Hunter
Hunter S. Thompson died yesterday.
Hunter stomped terra. He marched on a road of bones.
He was a true southern gentleman and a magnificent bastard.
His writing changed journalism, and amplified the “good” part of an already loud America.
I never met Hunter, but I miss the hell out of him. We needed a Hunter S. Thompson here, and now that we don’t have one the space he occupied can’t be filled.
Hunter was a living example of controlled chaos, as evidenced by his suicide.
He’s shot tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition while on thousands of drug/alcohol binges, yet never did he kill or injure anyone but, finally and purposefully, himself. (Except for once when a ricochet sprayed some gravel at his assistant, but that wasn’t his fault.)
He was one of the good guys. I was walking down the street today after having a Wild Turkey on the rocks in honor of the good doctor and I felt genuinely sad. Like the world was a lot less interesting.
It felt like the Good Guys lost our star player, and now the Bad Guys were one step closer to closing the deal.
Rough stuff.
Statement released by Hunter S. Thompson’s wife, Anita, and son, Juan, to the Aspen Daily News:
“On Feb. 20, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson took his life with a gunshot to the head at his fortified compound in Woody Creek, Colorado. The family will provide more information about memorial service and media contacts shortly. Hunter prized his privacy and we ask that his friends and admirers respect that privacy as well as that of his family. He stomped terra.”
A list of articles and eulogies about Hunter’s death:
As Gonzo in Life as in his death - Tom Wolfe
Hunter lived, died ‘by his own rules’
Hunter S. Thompson’s Political Genius
Late HST Wanted Ashes to Be Fired From a Cannon
Fear, loathing, guns: At home with King Gonzo
Prose laureate of the Age of Paranoia
The End of the Counter-Culture
Videos, music, images, and words by 
February 22nd, 2005 at 12:42 am
agreed.
i cant believe he killed himself.
but then again i can.
maybe he needed to be with other people.
wish i knew.
suicide is always a dumb mystery.
February 23rd, 2005 at 2:33 am
I will miss him … BIG HUG for Juan, Jen, Willam and Anita… who will never be able to fill the hole left in there lives by the man in spite of the myth and legend attached to his life..
I am a long time friend of Juan we went to the Aspen Community School together I have been using the blogs to try to send a message of love to him and the family but I know he is totally swamped because of the media attention at Owl farm and we need to let him know that we care for Him, Anita and the whole family in this time of tragedy while respecting his privacy
Let’s see if we can get the word out …
He was first the MAN….
He became the myth and legend
To me he was several people.
He was my best friend’s dad although he always called his dad Hunter
(At Juan’s wedding he said to a friend about me “Look there’s another little bastard I raised that turned out OK”)
He was Hunter S. Thompson retiring shy southerner who loved guns and his freedom
And
He was the Dr. Gonzo who we all know who would be in your face and try to kill you if you attempted to try to take away his guns, drugs, freedom, privacy and the god given right to go into an explosive tirade about it.
To be such a person required him to have a unique emotional support structure. These people now need our support, love and understanding in this time of grief.
Bradley Laboe
May 4th, 2005 at 2:03 pm
“Like the world was a lot less interesting.”
you’re right.
it is.
he is missed.
April 27th, 2007 at 5:57 am
Dr.Thompson was a legend and the best Dr. of journalism