Hunter S. Thompson commits suicide

[vince]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/books/02/21/thompson.obit/index.html

[GuyJean]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/books/02/21/thompson.obit/index.html

Probably saw that coming.. Bummer..

GJ

[Captain Japan]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/books/02/21/thompson.obit/index.html

Probably saw that coming.. Bummer..

Not me. I read his "Hey Rube" stuff on Page 2 of the ESPN site for a while. The stuff wasn't terribly interesting but he seemed like he had himself together. He'd bring up all kinds of nutty references, like the band Wolf Eyes. That kept it interesting.

Actually a week or so ago I went back and saw that he hadn't written a new story in a while.

[Maths Dude]

I often think that life is pointless, though I don't want to bump myself off. I can't fathom why someone would, perhaps depression got too much for him - who knows. I hope he still isn't suffering now. Anyone ever watch that movie with Robin Williams (forget the name) where his wife kills herself but she winds up in an even more horrible situation in the after world.

[Captain Japan]

Celebrated author had style all his own
ESPN

DENVER -- 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 Aspen-area home, his son said. He was 67.

"On Feb. 20, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson took his life with a gunshot to the head at his fortified compound in Woody Creek, Colo.," said Thompson's son, Juan in a statement released to the Aspen Daily News and reported by the Denver Post. "The family will shortly provide more information about memorial service and media contacts. Hunter prized his privacy and we ask that his friends and admirers respect that privacy as well as that of his family."

Pitkin County Sheriff officials confirmed to The Associated Press that Thompson had died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Thompson's wife, Anita, was not home at the time....the rest...

Page 2 Archive

[Captain Japan]

Damn, Thompson's last column features FG Bill Murray and him fooling around with a shotgun...
Shotgun Golf with Bill Murray
ESPN

The death of professional hockey in AMERICA is a nasty omen for people with heavy investments in NHL teams. But to me, it meant little or nothing -- and that's why I called Bill Murray with an idea that would change both our lives forever.

It was 3:30 on a dark Tuesday morning when I heard the phone ring on his personal line in New Jersey. "Good thinking," I said to myself as I fired up a thin Cohiba. "He's bound to be wide awake and crackling at this time of day, or at least I can leave a very excited message."

My eerie hunch was right. The crazy bugger picked up on the fourth ring, and I felt my heart racing. "Hot damn!" I thought. "This is how empires are built." Late? I know not late....the rest...

[vir-jin]

If this is really his last column, wow, with how much style can one cede!

[dimwit]

Sad. I truly admired him.

Any indication as to why?

[sillygirl]

Hard core til the very end.

[Ptyx]

This is kind of a shock. I didn't read anything he did recently or anything about him, i didn't even know he was still writing on a a regular basis.
I only read his most famous books, Fear and loathing, shark hunt and the one about the hell's angels. Inspiring stuff.
I'm really clueless about why a guy like him would commit suicide, he seemed like a rock, mentally and physically.
He had kind of a pessimistic view of the world but on the other hand he also had a lot of guts to do the thing he depicts in his books even if half of it is probably bullshit.
He was more the type of guy that gets killed in a bar brawl by a drunken russian mobster to me.
Anyway RIP Gonzo !

[Charles]

I suppose he could only end this way, now he's a legend. As if he wasn't one already.

HST was only a shadow of the man he used to be, but once in a while he could howl like his earlier days. Perhaps the last really great piece he wrote was the column he did just after 9/11, "When War Drums Roll." Go read it, and mourn that he's not around to do stuff like this anymore.

http://espn.go.com/page2/s/thompson/010918.html

[vince]

HST was only a shadow of the man he used to be

That's what a lot of people always wanted to think, but there is the funny story about the reporter who went to interview the old guy and Thompson was drinking straight from the bottle, doing stunts like lighting dynamite sticks in the fireplace and throwing them out the window, etc., while videotaping himself doing this and at the end he held out the videocassette to the reporter (just teasing) and then threw it into the fire.

[GuyJean]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/books/02/21/thompson.obit/index.html

Probably saw that coming.. Bummer..

Not me. I read his "Hey Rube" stuff on Page 2 of the ESPN site for a while.

I never read any of this recent stuff, so I can't really comment on that.. But 'Fear and Loathing' inspired me to push my drug limits.. He was a madman looking for the highest of highs.. Seems like death might provide that. Or the experience right before the lights go out.. I'm surprised he used a shotgun though.. Seems like an OD would've been the Thompson way..

GJ

[Charles]

HST was only a shadow of the man he used to be

That's what a lot of people always wanted to think, but there is the funny story about the reporter who went to interview the old guy and Thompson was drinking straight from the bottle, doing stunts like lighting dynamite sticks in the fireplace and throwing them out the window, etc., while videotaping himself doing this and at the end he held out the videocassette to the reporter (just teasing) and then threw it into the fire.

I hear a lot of those tales, and I always suspect they're made up by the writers who want to emulate their guru, concocting outlandish unbelievable events to spice up an otherwise mundane story. And in doing so, they prove they missed the whole point of HST's work.

[cstaylor]

Any chance he may have been diagnosed with a terminal illness?

[vince]

HST living room

[tatsujin]

Just want to add to the bloom - its a damn shame he took his own life.

I don't understand why everyone sees it as such a surprise though. Anyone who writes so honestly and satirically about the world is bound to have a cynical view of things.

Maybe he felt his work was done and he wanted to fastrack his exit - I guess we'll never know