Author Hunter S. Thompson Kills Himself

ASPEN, Colo. - Hunter S. Thompson, the acerbic counterculture writer who popularized a new form of fictional journalism in books like "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," fatally shot himself Sunday night at his home, his son said. He was 67.

"Hunter prized his privacy and we ask that his friends and admirers respect that privacy as well as that of his family," Juan Thompson said in a statement released to the Aspen Daily News.

Pitkin County Sheriff Bob Braudis, a personal friend of Thompson, confirmed the death to the News. Sheriff's officials did not return calls to The Associated Press late Sunday.

Juan Thompson found his father's body. Thompson's wife, Anita, was not home at the time.

Besides the 1972 drug-hazed classic about Thompson's time in Las Vegas, he is credited with pioneering New Journalism — or "gonzo journalism" — in which the writer made himself an essential component of the story.

An acute observer of the decadence and depravity in American life, Thompson wrote such books as "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail" in 1973 and the collections "Generation of Swine" and "Songs of the Doomed." His first ever novel, "The Rum Diary," written in 1959, was first published in 1998.

Other books include "Hell's Angels" and "The Proud Highway." His most recent effort was "Hey Rube: Blood Sport, the Bush Doctrine, and The Downward Spiral of Dumbness."

ROCKMAN

Oh, this is terribly sad. I loved HST's work, and it's tragic that the b*stards finally did him in.

Suicide? Never would've expected it. An accidental OD, maybe, but not this.

Hunter was a close freind to Johnny Depp and Keith. I recall reading how Hunter spent some evenings with Keith during the US leg of Bridges tour.

ROCKMAN

I had the honor of seeing HST in 1974 at the Rollins College lecture series, he was a larger than life character kind of like a rock star more than a journalist! He had a Q&A session after his mostly incoherent opening statement...the thing I remember most was the podium was covered with joints when he was finished...he got down on his hands and knees and picked up every one!
R.I.P. Uncle Duke!

Important stylist,
did too much drugs.

I can't believe that he did himself in that way. It kind of makes sense but it's really sad for his fans. Maybe he was trying to get off of drugs and couldn't handle the pain. Who knows? Very sad though. If there is an afterlife, I hope the goulie's out there understand what an important man this guy was. Leave him alone.

It makes you wonder if he hadn't surrounded himself with guns whether he would have done it. If it was a spur of the moment impulse born out of depression then he might have ridden the moment without immediate access to a gun. Just speculation, who knows, perhaps he planned it for ages like Donald Cammell did. Sad though, he was a great writer and a very funny man. I've got a vhs item of him and Keith hanging out and chatting about guns etc.

Supposedly he tried to shoot his secretary back in 2001. I guess guns were a big part of his life. Colorado Rocky Mountain high.

Now, now, now, let's not get into an anti-right-to-own-firearms thing here. As an American, and a libertarian, I will defend this right, even though I do not own a rifle, shotgun or pistol. HST was as liberal-minded as they come, but he did love his guns. As a military enthusiast, I would love to have the opportunity to fire some of the classic weapons of the 20th century, and still hope to do so at some point.

I was never in the military, but I know how to handle firearms. I know what they can do, so I exercise extreme caution. They are not "big boy toys", they are extremely dangerous things which require careful handling.

I WILL say that too many folks that can't even manage a steak knife safely can get a gun, but it's one of the paradoxes of America's definition of freedom.

Don't confuse love of firearms with love of killing. I didn't wanna get political here, but a large part of HST's life involved being a "political junkie".

Help stamp out Curt Cobain's Disease in our lifetime!

Hmm at the risk of opening up a political can of worms "the right to own firearms" seems like a pile of redneck crap to me: how about weighing it against the right of innocent people to walk down the street without getting caught up in the crossfire. If you banned them all hundreds of lives would be saved, simple as that.

I'm not saying owning guns is wrong. He liked guns and ended up shooting himself. He also shot at his secretary. People should own guns if they want. I've had my house broken into. Luckily I wasn't home, but if I was, I would want a gun on my side. Now, if I took a lot of drugs and was prone to paranoid dillusion, I wouldn't want guns in my house. Hunter's son, who found him dead, must feel some remorse as well as anger at his dad. A gun lover who took the ultimate shot. That's hard to stomach.

Tseverin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hmm at the risk of opening up a political can of
> worms "the right to own firearms" seems like a
> pile of redneck crap to me: how about weighing it
> against the right of innocent people to walk down
> the street without getting caught up in the
> crossfire. If you banned them all hundreds of
> lives would be saved, simple as that.

Ok, Tseverin , I will agree with you in that fully-automatic weapons should NOT be in the hands of the general public. However, single-shot rifles, shotguns and pistols for the sake of target-practice or game-hunting should NOT be banned. Semi-and fully- automatic weapons should be reserved for law enforcement and military use. This is where I draw the line, personally.

The right to own firearms is perceived by some to be a "pile of redneck crap", but it goes beyond a half-baked stereotyping. Yes, people DO like to hunt game, and here in West Virginia, we have to keep the native deer population in control. Otherwise they would starve to death. I eat venison, and it is a nearly-fat-free and tasty meat when it is properly seasoned and prepared. Pistol and rifle target shooting is indeed a sport, as is the arcane art of archery.

Tseverin, you must not assume owning a firearm as the equivalent of some degenerate or nefarious motive. It's just not true. In truth, the state in which I live is one of the most crime-free in the entire United States. We are not backward--in many ways, we are much more civilized than the urban sprawl that is the East Coast from Washington DC to Boston.

The story mentioned that Hunter was in a lot of pain and that it had been a very bad year for him physically. Maybe for him , it made perfect sense that he write his last chapter of an very wild, interesting and never normal but full life. He was not a man of compromises . I am not surprise. Let us all hope that Hunter is at peace .He will be remembered fondly.

OK, back on topic. So, was HST sick? These days, 67 is middle-aged, so had his decades-long abuse of himself finally caught up with him?

More importantly, did he finally realize that the American Dream was dead, and he didn't want to stick around for the wake?

He was recovering from a broken leg and hip surgery. This is from the story. "Neighbors in Thompson's Woody Creek neighborhood said a broken leg had kept him from getting out as often as in the past, including to the tavern." I think Bassplayer617 that you are very close about the American Dream angle...especially after the election.Hunter didn't strike me as a Bush type of guy...and I could see him getting depressed over that result.

Hey guys,
Guns or not, the dude was whacked.
I'm sorry, but I never understood the fascination with him. Tried to read him and as a long time Rolling Stone mag subscriber, I never, ever, could relate.
Oh well. It is still a shitty way to die. Very selfish.
No sympathy for this devil.
He must have felt the need for some final publicity.

Can you IMAGINE what he would have written if he covered the '72 Tour? Oy!

"The wonder of Jimi Hendrix was that he could stand up at all he was so pumped full of drugs." Patsy, Patsy Stone

Kurt Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey guys,
> Guns or not, the dude was whacked.
> I'm sorry, but I never understood the fascination
> with him. Tried to read him and as a long time
> Rolling Stone mag subscriber, I never, ever, could
> relate.
> Oh well. It is still a shitty way to die. Very
> selfish.
> No sympathy for this devil.
> He must have felt the need for some final
> publicity.

No, no, no, Kurt. We can't let it go at that. Thompson believed in America, but he also realized that we have a peculiar propensity to kill the best and most forward-thinking of us, even expatriates of other countries. We managed to assassinate Lincoln, JFK, RFK, Martin Luther King and even John Lennon. We even managed to elect a questionable figurehead for a second term as president.

What Hunter Thompson did serves as a wake-up call to the rest of us, who still hold hope that the mass hysteria and fear created by the call for a New Crusade for Democracy will be revealed for what it is really is-- a front for the big businesses who feed on war and suffering to engorge themselves in cash. Evoke memories of screaming people in airplanes taking down the foundations of their institutions will engender fear, loathing and a continued cash flow. That is their bottom line.

Bassplayer....So true....Your second paragraph nails it completely! Well put!

ROCKMAN

HST's personal excesses and
political views seem to be the
focus of most obituaries in the
mainstream news. More importantly
however, his journalistic style helped
put the writer at the centre of the story,
which is pretty common nowadays, and so
perhaps is being unfortunately
overlooked.

That aside, Bassplayer, thanks for your
insight into the American State of the
Union on guns. There are some important
distinctions you make, for example about
hunting in rural areas that make sense,
however much i myself might otherwise
disagree with the whole notion of having
them around. I know many rural Canadians
make similiar perhaps justifed claims for
them, despite how much of a baaaaad idea,
pure murder, they usually are here in the
big city. And I respect that you eat
what you kill (venison), cause I'm not sure
alot of hunters are really interested in this
aspect of the blood sport, nor are too worried
about the poor dear (no pun intended) starving.