Hunter S Thompson - RIP
gonzo_gone | 22.02.2005 20:18 | Free Spaces | Indymedia | London
Regarded as one of the most legendary writers of the 20th century, the founder of GONZO journalism, American writer Hunter S. Thompson, author of such classics as Fear And Loathing in Las Vagas, has taken his own life after firing a gun shot to the head... leaving behind what he recently called "the downward spiral of dumbness" that has wound through the heart of America since its "nationwide nervous breakdown" in the aftermath of 9/11.
Hunter S. Thompson's son, Juan, released a statement saying he had found his father dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head at the writer's Owl Creek farm near Aspen. He was 67 years old.
Thompson, famed for such adrenaline-packed narratives as "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," [2] turned his drug and alcohol-fueled clashes with authority into a central theme of his work, challenging the quieter norms of established journalism in the process.
Thompson had distilled his style of invective-laced, outlaw journalism into a slogan: "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
Thompson developed a reputation for fearlessly attacking the complacency and consensus of mainstream journalism in America. He lived an extravagent life at his Aspen ranch where Thompson, the cavalier liberterian, maintained an extensive gun and drug arsenal.
Always an engaged critic of American culture, some of Thompson's more memorable quotes included:
- Recently he described the current US administration as racists and hatemongers - "I piss down the throats of these Nazis" he wrote.
- "America...just a nation of two hundred million used car salesmen with all the money we need to buy guns and no qualms about killing anybody else in the world who tries to make us uncomfortable."
- "The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."
"All hail ye to Hunter S Thompson - Indy Salutes Gonzo Style Journalism...
R.I.P. Brother
...Photos of the late HST.
His Last Column...
Some Fear_and_Loathing Quotes...
gonzo_gone