resurrectionsong

February 20, 2005

Hunter Thompson is Dead (Update)

I've just heard a report that Hunter Thompson shot himself tonight.

I'm not sure how I want to respond to that quite yet, but it's one of those things that neither surprises me nor leaves me unmoved.

More later.

Update: Drudge is reporting this on his front page, too.

Update: From the Rocky Mountain News.

Hunter S. Thompson, the acerbic counter-culture author of books such as "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," fatally shot himself Sunday night at his Aspen-area home, his son said. He was 67.

Michelle Malkin has a link to Thompson's last published article.
Goldstein links to both the AP and Denver Post stories.
Michael King has thoughts on the subject as well.

The saddest thing about the quote from Begging to Differ is obvious: sex, drugs, and insanity didn't keep him from making that final, angry renunciation of himself. How very sad.

Update: Since Thompson was of a distinctly different political stripe from me, I thought it would be appropriate to find some left-leaning sites to link that would laud him in a way that I won't be able to. Daily Kos, my first stop, will be my last stop. A few of the thoughts put forth in this post just make it hard for me to want to listen to people from that side of the aisle.

From the actual post, comes this incomprehensible bit of thought:

The best political journalist ever is dead.

It scares me. Speculation isn't appropriate, but what did he know that we don't?

In the comments, though, the feelings become more choate. First up:

His blood is also on Bush's hands

Probably just couldn't accept life with four more years of Bush. Guess he chose to take the easy way out. May he rest in peace.

Luckily, even Kos' readers don't seem to put much credence in that kind of thinking. Although there were a scattering of comments linking Bush to Thompson's death, most of the comments were focused simply on saying goodbye to a writer that they admired.

Still, I don't have the stamina to wade through the kind of anti-Bush and anti-GOP rhetoric that seems to attach itself to any news story on the big, left leaning sites.

Update: For further reading you can check out Bill Hennessy, Bryan, IndustrialBlog, or McGehee's contrarian view.

Posted by zombyboy at February 20, 2005 09:19 PM

Comments

HST was a terrific writer. It was his perceptive that was screwed.

Posted by: IB Bill at February 21, 2005 10:38 AM

It seems the fact that it was skewed was what attracted people to him.

I don't think of him as left or right. He didn't like Bush - that doesn't mean he lived his live as a liberal.

He lived his life as an addict.

Posted by: Temple Stark at February 21, 2005 10:57 AM

Good point, TS.

BTW, proofreading error in my post. That's perspective, not perceptive ...

yeah, it was an interesting perspective. His perceptions were fucked, too. But I loved his writing like you'd love a crazy uncle.

the man mastered his craft, and that's worthy of respect.

Posted by: IB Bill at February 21, 2005 11:35 AM

The debate over whether the moonbats or the wingnuts are more crazy is hard to resolve, but I can't imagine we'd see anything similar from the Right if, say, P.J. O'Rourke offed himself.

Posted by: BTD Greg at February 21, 2005 12:04 PM

I'd hope not--but let's be honest, the power of a very personal level of hate was what motivated all the conspiracy theories around anyone who died and was even remotely connected to Clinton.

Still, at least then there was some personal connection, I suppose.

Posted by: zombyboy at February 21, 2005 12:08 PM

You do know that there are some who are speculating that this might not have been suicide....

Posted by: Kate at February 22, 2005 11:31 PM

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

PS: Look at the statement. Juan says “armed compound” …first of all it is a little joke (sort of)… the kind of thing Juan would say when he is really hurting and keeping it together for everyone. Second sneaking up on Hunter with or without a gun even when he was in a stupor was not an easy task especially when he was in his own “armed compound”.

Posted by: Bradley Laboe at February 23, 2005 10:27 PM