originally titled Gonzo To The End… but that’s all wrong.
In his author’s note to 1977’s The Great Shark Hunt, (a book of his collected works) Hunter S. Thompson wrote, “I have already lived the life I planned to live.”
He was 40 at the time. Little did Thompson know that he’d have 25 plus years of living left to do with all the “gibberish,” he had “lashed together” for volume one of his Gonzo Papers.
On Sunday, February 20th the writer was found dead at his Owl Farm ranch in Woody Creek Colorado.
I had been having a pretty good weekend. I caught the awful news on a television hanging over the bar at the Eagle Brook Saloon. Somehow that made sense.
I don’t have many personal heroes but Thompson makes my list. If you’ve never read any of his work go find some, today.
Best known for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Thompson wrote over a dozen books. To his last days he was a working journalist, returning to his roots as a sports writer for ESPN.com. He coined the phrase “Fear and Loathing” in a letter to a friend written just after the JFK assassination. For Thompson the American Dream died on that day. The country has been all down hill since then but he fought it every step of the way, exposing the evil, the greedy and the cruel.
A self proclaimed political junky, Thompson commented on President’s from Richard Nixon to George W. Bush. His Fear and Loathing On The Campaign Trail follows the 1972 presidential race. Even if it is tinged with whiskey and speed, the words still provide keen insight into the American political process.
He invented his own form of writing known as Gonzo journalism, immersing himself in his stories and becoming an active participant. The Gonzo style established Hunter Thompson as a giant among journalists.
He rode with the Hell’s Angels, attended the Watergate hearings, ran for sheriff of Aspen Colorado, putting it all down in his books. He established the National Affairs desk at Rolling Stone when the magazine still had guts. He’s been called a patriot, a junky and a genius. Thompson was an American Original, mixing humor, ego and an elegantly brutal talent with words.
Life 101? I wouldn’t recommend his lifestyle to anyone. He became a celebrity as much for his hard living as for his work. Hunter made it a lot further down the line than most people ever expected but it wasn’t really about the drugs or the guns.
For me at least, Thompson provided perspective. He could dive into almost any situation: a political convention, the Kentucky Derby or a Las Vegas casino and drag the truth out of it. The results man have been shocking but as Keats wrote, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty.”
Recently, I found a copy of Proud Highway his first volume of collected letters in a used bookstore. At night just before going to sleep I’ve been dashing through a few of them. They make for strange dreams. The letters map out the plan he had for his life. Thompson wanted to be known as the F. Scott Fitzgerald of his generation.
Forget that. In generations to come young writers will be saying that they want to become the Hunter S. Thompson of their generation.
At the end of that Author’s note he wrote, “I can’t work this elegant typewriter as well as I thought I could… But you know I could, if I had just a little more time.”
Thanks for everything Hunter. Gonzo to the end.
This column originally appeared in The Sun Chronicle