Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

RIP Hunter S. Thompson

Page: (1)2

04:28 / 21.02.05

I just heard about this> it's a real shame.

ABC News report-

ASPEN, Colo. Feb 20, 2005 — 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. (More in the link above)

I'd only just started reading his latest book "Hey Rube", too. He still had it. It would have been great to watch him get older and more crotchety.

Math is for suckers!

04:37 / 21.02.05

I just heard about this too, and it broke my heart. He and Robert Anton Wilson were the first real counter-culture authors I ever read and I read just about everything he ever published, with the exception of Hey Rube, which i just haven't had a chance to buy yet. When I read it, it actually brought tears to my eyes. Rest in Peace man.

Benny the Ball

06:08 / 21.02.05

Good night and god bless. A real shame.

Charlie's Horse

06:15 / 21.02.05

A madman, a visionary, a 'nice guy and an athlete' (in his own words). He won't be forgotten.

Go easy, Thompson. I owe you a good, stiff drink.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

07:02 / 21.02.05

Terrible news. They just had Iain Sinclair on the radio talking about it, saying "it was amazing he held on so long... the ghost of Papa Hemingway was always looming over him" or something Sinclairesque to that effect.

Truly awful news.

_Boboss

07:49 / 21.02.05

killed himself? 'dead from liver failure' or 'heart attack', sure, but suicide? what the fuck was that about? he wasn't hemingway yet, the booze (etc.) hadn't killed off the writer in him. he'd put up with the last four years with reasonable humour, why not go through four more? maybe indiscretion: told too many stories already.

---

07:51 / 21.02.05

Man, I can't believe I've read that at all. I'm in total shock. Another warrior goes next door.

Here's hoping you're happy on the other side, and thanks for all the laughs and the inspiration. Peace.

---

07:59 / 21.02.05

killed himself? 'dead from liver failure' or 'heart attack', sure, but suicide? what the fuck was that about?

Yeah that's what I'm thinking too, I still can't believe it.

Fuck.

Man, I can't believe I've read that at all. I'm in total shock. Another warrior goes next door.

What was he warring against?

We're The Great Old Ones Now

08:33 / 21.02.05

Assholes, mostly.

RIP HST.

Tryphena Absent

08:44 / 21.02.05

I don't know, this doesn't really surprise me that much, I never saw Hunter Thompson as the kind of guy to let death creep up on him.

Haus of Mystery

09:33 / 21.02.05

Ohh man. This year fucking sucks for death already.

RIP Raoul.

8===>Q: alyn

09:33 / 21.02.05

Yeah, I'm sure he had a good reason. I've never understood why people bemoan the deaths of suicides... but then, I'm callous about death in general. I liked HST, but, like, bon voyage, dude, you'll never pay taxes again.

Regrettable Juvenilia

10:49 / 21.02.05

Fuck, why couldn't it have been Tom Wolfe?

Tryphena Absent

10:53 / 21.02.05

Yeah and who wants to pay taxes? No one, that's the answer.

Jack The Bodiless

11:13 / 21.02.05

Um. I do.

Suedey! SHOT FOR MEAT!

13:45 / 21.02.05

Super wack Jack!

Jack Denfeld

14:50 / 21.02.05

he looked like spider jerusalem/ grant morrison.

Mazarine

14:55 / 21.02.05

I just read this, and I'm so sad and shocked. I never thought he'd die while Bush or anyone like him was in office. Maybe it was the prospect of Duke potentially winning the NCAA basketball tournament. Goddamn it.

Cherielabombe

15:44 / 21.02.05

Surprised, shocking, sad!

Such a wonderful beginning to a book:

"We were somewhere around Barstow when the drugs began to take hold. I remember saying something like, 'I feel a bit lightheaded, maybe you should drive..."

Goodbye Mr. Duke!

unheimlich manoeuvre

16:30 / 21.02.05

Sean the frumious Bandersnatch

16:38 / 21.02.05

I feel bad about it, but I'm always more upset when writers or artists that are still working (like Eisner or Dr. Thompson) die than those who retired long ago. Is there any word yet on why he killed himself?

Liger Null

17:12 / 21.02.05

There's another thread in Books where it is discussed that possible health problems may have driven him to take matters into his own hands, as it were. That's the only explanation that really makes sense to me.

Of course, there lurks the little conspiracy theorist in my head that says things like, "You know, no one actually witnessed the shooting..."

Then again, she thinks Courtney Love did it...

Seriously, though, I felt like crying all day.

The Puck

18:41 / 21.02.05

Shit.

and cliff richard is still alive.

im going to get good and drunk, whos with me!?

the Fool

20:02 / 21.02.05

Goodbye HST, you will be missed. An inspiration.

Brigade du jour

20:24 / 21.02.05

Man, this is fucked up.

Haus of Mystery

21:04 / 21.02.05

Brilliant eulogy by Ralph Steadman on the channel 4 news earlier.

Jake, Colossus of Clout

21:04 / 21.02.05

He was my number one counterculture role model when I was a teenager. Shit, he might still be. (Sorry, Grant, but this is HST we're talking about) I'm really having a hard time taking this shit in. Fuck this shit. As someone said upthread, it's even worse that he's gone NOW, while those fucking evil warmongering shitbags are still in power. We needed that guy and his voice right now.

I just saw some shit, trite little feature about it on CNN, followed by footage of fucking Bush with that fake white trash accent and that disgusting fucking SMILE. Bastards.

This is awful. Commence the drinking.

juan de marcos

21:31 / 21.02.05

Just went back to my cellar and took another one instead of calling it a day. Strong Ale. Very Strong Ale. Cheers HST!

lekvar

21:43 / 21.02.05

I've got my glass raised to him right now. Cheers and godspeed, Uncle Duke.

dj kali_ma

22:06 / 21.02.05

Dear Mister Hunter S. Thompson,

You're leaving really big shoes to fill. Fortunately, there's a buncha people who read your work, a percentage of them that understand it, a percentage of them who are sufficiently motivated, and a percentage of them who are talented.

This leaves roughly a handful of people that could help carry on the Gonzo-legacy.

Hopefully, they'll be enough.

Love,
autodidactic/aphonia

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

22:11 / 21.02.05

Today was originally pencilled in to be one of what my alcohol counsellor refers to as "dry days"... I had to have several for Hunter, though.

I keep writing second paragraphs for this post and then deleting them cos they sound too silly, and they're not supposed to. All I can say is to restate my earlier post and say this is terrible news. Only I'm saying it drunk this time. Here's to you, Hunter.

Hieronymus

22:15 / 21.02.05

He was a brave little fucker. something i always admired about him. didn't take any shit from anyone, ever.

i read somewhere that when he ran against some asshole sheriff in 1970, the other guy sported a crew cut. So Hunter shaved his head clean bald and referred to the other guy as my long haired opponent. hahahaha.

he should've won.

if he was ill (And he was really looking like hell of late), i'd wager good money that going out like Hemingway would've been something he'd have wanted, rather than colostomy bags and bedsores and the slow, miserable arrival of death. at least this way death was on his terms.

give 'em hell wherever you are, Duke.

Liger Null

23:00 / 21.02.05

I have no booze, but I am currently collecting the last remnants of my stash and will smoke it in his honor, while listening to "Mr. Tamborine Man."

Page: (1)2

Add Your Reply