RIP Hunter S Thompson

[Briare Rabbit]

ASPEN, Colo. Feb 20, 2005 — 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.

"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.

From ABC news.

:( A sad, sad day.

[ilovemovies]

Jesus. Three people in the same weekend? That sucks.

[James Logan]

Arf.

Sad news. RIP.

[KcMsterpce]

Wow, that's a shame.

RIP, you interesting dude!

[A.J. Hakari]

May you have peace at that great ranch in the sky, and may you avoid Bat Country along the way.

R.I.P. :(

[Witchproject]

I can barely believe this... damn this is a huge blow to the literary world. He was so influential to so many incredible authors. This man's work may be forgotten one day, but what he started won't.

[chilli pepper]

He shot himself? Fucking sad man, Fear And Loathing was indeed, some cool shit, so Hunter, may you rest in peace. :(

[Fisting Ackbar]

There he goes. One of God's own prototypes.

RIP

[EBastard]

Man, this fucking blows. I mean, I stood up till 4 in the morning yesterday watching FaLiLV (1998, 8/10) on Bravo, and now...this. Goodness, this reminds me of an interview he did about a year or two ago about Johnny Depp. And when asked about him, he said something to the degree of, "He's a good friend...and I miss him very much." Maybe that played a part in his suicide. Either way, this really blows.

RIP



SHIVER ME TIMBERS...

[Patrick Bateman]

RIP Mr. Thompson.

[Damone]

I first discovered the works of HST in 87 when I was a sophomore in High School and I've been a loyal fan ever since.

Rest in peace, Doc. You will be missed. :(

[jeo4]

Sad. It seems surreal. I can only wonder why he would take his own life. I can't help but remember some of his better work and think that he could have done even more. He was amazing. I remember WHERE THE BUFFALO ROAM and FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS and think that these were just a small representation of this man's entire life. He was so much more and now he's gone. RIP.

[AmZ]

Poor Depp. Poor us. Thompson was indeed on of God's own prototypes...

RIP Hunter. So long and Mahalo.

[Jon Lyrik]

RIP, indeed one of the most interesting people of our time.

[Mr-Blonde]

"THERE WAS MADNESS IN ANY DIRECTION,
AT ANY HOUR... YOU COULD STRIKE
SPARKS ANYWHERE. THERE WAS A
FANTASTIC UNIVERSAL SENSE THAT
WHATEVER WE WERE DOING WAS RIGHT,
THAT WE WERE WINNING. AND THAT, I
THINK, WAS THE HANDLE -- THAT SENSE
OF INEVITABLE VICTORY OVER THE
FORCES OF OLD AND EVIL. NOT IN ANY
MEAN OR MILITARY SENSE; WE DIDN'T
NEED THAT. OUR ENERGY WOULD SIMPLY
prevail. We had all the momentum;
we were riding the crest of a high
and beautiful wave...

So now, less than five years later,
you can go up on a steep hill in
Las Vegas and look west, and with
the right kind of eyes you can
almost see the high water mark --
that place where the wave finally
broke and rolled back."


Did you catch the wave as it washed back out to sea?

R.I.P. Hunter S. Thompson

[Twisted Sister]

As said in "Almost Famous":

There's only one Hunter Thompson.

Happy travels, Hunter. RIP.

[Cosimo]

Along side Easton Ellis and Palahunick Thompson was my favourite authour.Very sad news indeed

[MacReady]

Man, I just heard his commentary on the Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas bout' two weeks ago. You should check it out, he's packed with energy and a real joy to listen to.

R.I.P.

[thirdeye]

RIP Hunter:(

[The Postmaster General]

Damn - was hoping for one more political book from him. The guy totally spelled out things in a way I understood. His explaination of Bill Clintons creepiness as told through a french fry ancedote is one of the most memorable things I've ever read. It only soaks the brain to try and imagine what led him to this. But in the spirit of the guy, I'm just going to stay convinced that it was either a drug induced accident, or a covert operation by Panamanian Banditos.

Godspeed you fucking whack-job!

[eljefe15]

Wow. I never thought I would read that Hunter S. Thompson died of a "self inflicted wound." Only he knows what was in his mind in his last moments. He always seemed too arrogant to actually kill himself so I don't doubt that drugs and alcohol played a part. However, I have to stop and think that he left this life like he lived his life, on his own terms.

R.I.P.- But before you go, as your attorney, I would advise you to take a hit from the little bottle in my shaving kit.

Alrato!

[Raoul Duke]

Jesus Christ, I couldn't believe it...and what a sad way to go..

He was a brilliantly crazy fella, and his book "Fear and Loathing" is great..

The world will be a little more normal without him, and it sucks.

[Psychocandy]

It's not very often that i'm shocked these days. But this shocked me and left me saddened. A huge fucking loss. The guy was a genius. RIP.

[Buck Turgidson]

People who helped change the world for the better are dying every day and are "replaced" by people like "Jeff Gannon."

Ossie, John Raitt and now this.

I fear for the future of my country, because these people's likes are in short supply these days.

[William Munny]

Originally posted by Buck Turgidson
I fear for the future of my country, because these people's likes are in short supply these days.

You summed it up beautifully there.

RIP, Hunter Thompson.

[electriclite]

I'd say something tender and in step with the usual tenets of a impromptu eulogy, but I think Mr. Thompson would've appreciated this more:


You miserable son of a bitch!

RIP you beautiful bastard!

[Spacey_Norton21]

"There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. Some kind of high powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die. "

I can picture him at the pearly gates saying: "My name... is, uh, Hunter Thompson. I'm on the list, that's for sure. I have my attorney with me and I realize of course that his name is not on that list, but we must have that suite! You see, this man is actually my driver. Just check the list and you'll see. What's the score here? What's next? "

May he be at peace, and may God's mercy be on him, the fucking swine that he is.

RIP Dr. Hunter Scoton Thompson (A Doctor of Journalism)

[Buck Turgidson]

^ "I'm not coming in there if you've got that vile bastard Nixon!"

[wheresdonnie?]

Good to see a thread for this great man
RIP, man.

[Elgyn]

:confused: I can`t believe he shot himself. Seems like something he would never do. Does anyone know if he had some kind of painful illness or something? Thompson is my favorite writer ever, my inspiration to become a journalist (which has yet to happen), and I`ll always have the 'GONZO' tattoo on my back to prove it.

[agentsands]

It may be that we'll know know the reasons. More information is trickling out...the startling part, for me, is he'd invited his son, daughter-in-law, and 6-year-old grandson up for the weekend. They were in another part of the house when it happend. In his beloved kitchen, he put the gun in his mouth. An autopsy said he died instantly. His wife of two years was away from the house, at a workout center. The Aspen Times said a grief counciller was called to the compound, for the grandson. The sheriff was heard to say "there are a lot of grief-stricken people in that house. They said he had given no hints of anything wrong, over the past few weeks. He'd had some health problems, having a hip replacement and a broken foot, but they said he was taking it in stride. A prayer, for the people he left behind, who loved him.

[Sigur509]

Very sad. I heard this as I was waking up monday morning. Something else to put a damper of a monday morning. He will be missed, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas still kicks ass, today.






R.I.P

[AmZ]

Originally posted by agentsands
It may be that we'll know know the reasons. More information is trickling out...the startling part, for me, is he'd invited his son, daughter-in-law, and 6-year-old grandson up for the weekend. They were in another part of the house when it happend. In his beloved kitchen, he put the gun in his mouth. An autopsy said he died instantly. His wife of two years was away from the house, at a workout center. The Aspen Times said a grief counciller was called to the compound, for the grandson.

agentsands - Where did you read this?

[electriclite]

My teacher just reminded me of my working title for my Spring Animated film "Hunter S. Thompson ain't got nuthin' on Frida Kahlo" so now I must add an unplanned for tribute at the end.

I guess its no longer a working title.

[Scarface98.9]

According to the IMDB, one of the things listed in his final wishes was to be cremated, and have his ashes shot out of a cannon across his estate. How perfectly fitting

[Elgyn]

Originally posted by agentsands
He'd had some health problems, having a hip replacement and a broken foot, but they said he was taking it in stride.


Yeah, this was in the news today as possible reasons. A hip replacement and a broken foot? Is that really something to kill yourself over? For God`s sakes man, get a hold of yourself!

Perhaps he saw his health problems would only begin to mount more and more, and he didn`t want to wind-up a vegetable on life-support in some hospital somewhere.

[Briare Rabbit]

Originally posted by AmZ
agentsands - Where did you read this?

All over the news.

And I think Hunter shot himself because things were getting bad. He was pretty distraught over Bush getting re-elected, and he knew everything was just going downhill. Perhaps, like someone said, he wanted to end it on his own terms.

[The Postmaster General]

It keeps coming at me in waves. When Cobain did himself in, I was shocked.

This...

For the record, I will now, and always, refer to suicide as "an accident of the Gonzo variety."

Thompson always said "Buy the ticket, take the ride." I wish he would've added, "But don't jump out of the plane without your goddamned chute!"

[Buck Turgidson]

Originally posted by BubbaStrangelove
For the record, I will now, and always, refer to suicide as "an accident of the Gonzo variety." :D

Maybe what the coroner wrote about Brian Jones applies, too: "Death by misadventure."

[Joshmo]

Its always tragic when someone kills themself..I dont wish eternal damnation on anyone, but I also thinks its a little sophmoric to think blowing ones brains out means an automatic "Admit One" Pass is handed out for entry to the Heavenly theater.

[Twisted Sister]

Per CNN, he actually pulled the trigger while on the phone speaking with his wife. This is weird.

Thompson shot self while talking with wife
'He set the receiver down and he did it'
Friday, February 25, 2005 Posted: 8:16 AM EST (1316 GMT)

ASPEN, Colorado (AP) -- The widow of journalist Hunter S. Thompson said her husband killed himself while the two were talking on the phone.

"I was on the phone with him, he set the receiver down and he did it. I heard the clicking of the gun," Anita Thompson told the Aspen Daily News in Friday's editions.

She said her husband had asked her to come home from a health club so they could work on his weekly ESPN column -- but instead of saying goodbye, he set the telephone down and shot himself.

Thompson said she heard a loud, muffled noise, but didn't know what had happened. "I was waiting for him to get back on the phone," she said.

Hunter Thompson, famous for "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and other works of New Journalism, shot himself in the head Sunday in the kitchen of his Aspen-area home. He was 67.

His son, daughter-in-law and 6-year-old grandson were in the house when the shooting occurred.

Anita Thompson, 32, said her husband had discussed killing himself in recent months and had been issuing verbal and written directives about what he wanted done with his body, his unpublished works and his assets.

His suicidal talk put a strain on their relationship, she said.

"He wanted to leave on top of his game. I wish I could have been more supportive of his decision," she said. "It was a problem for us."

[jeo4]

The more I hear about this story, the more of a selfish asshole I think he was. He did it on the phone so his wife could hear it. He did it while his family (6 year old grandson included) would be there so they could find him. I'm just disgusted.

[Mr-Blonde]

Originally posted by jeo4
The more I hear about this story, the more of a selfish asshole I think he was. He did it on the phone so his wife could hear it. He did it while his family (6 year old grandson included) would be there so they could find him. I'm just disgusted.

Yeah-- well the fucker has always been half-crazy. I'm not excusing his actions, all I am saying is it figures.

[Elgyn]

Originally posted by jeo4
The more I hear about this story, the more of a selfish asshole I think he was. He did it on the phone so his wife could hear it. He did it while his family (6 year old grandson included) would be there so they could find him. I'm just disgusted.


You know....as much as I idolized the guy.......you`re right.

He may as well had called CNN and told them to send the camera crews right before he did it. Which, ironically, sounds MORE like something he would`ve done, then what he really did.

Such a lousy way for such a great man to go.






P.S. - Joshmo, if you REALLY want to get into the "suicide=Hell" thing here (which I don`t really think is appropiate), I don`t believe the Bible actually says that anywhere. That`s purely a Catholic thang.
And the way I look at Christianity, if it ain`t in the Bible, then it don`t count. But I digress.:(

[Sandstone]

Originally posted by Mr-Blonde
"THERE WAS MADNESS IN ANY DIRECTION,
AT ANY HOUR... YOU COULD STRIKE
SPARKS ANYWHERE. THERE WAS A
FANTASTIC UNIVERSAL SENSE THAT
WHATEVER WE WERE DOING WAS RIGHT,
THAT WE WERE WINNING. AND THAT, I
THINK, WAS THE HANDLE -- THAT SENSE
OF INEVITABLE VICTORY OVER THE
FORCES OF OLD AND EVIL. NOT IN ANY
MEAN OR MILITARY SENSE; WE DIDN'T
NEED THAT. OUR ENERGY WOULD SIMPLY
prevail. We had all the momentum;
we were riding the crest of a high
and beautiful wave...

So now, less than five years later,
you can go up on a steep hill in
Las Vegas and look west, and with
the right kind of eyes you can
almost see the high water mark --
that place where the wave finally
broke and rolled back."


Did you catch the wave as it washed back out to sea?

R.I.P. Hunter S. Thompson

I really love that speech in the movie.. it really showed his emotions, thanks so much for posting it..

[agentsands]

I'm not going to defend the way he chose to die, but the newspaper accounts (especially the one printed a few posts ago) were not printing the whole story. In fact, his wife's story has changed a couple of times. In the AP article, she said she did not hear a gun, but a clicking sound, like a typewriter. After a minute, she hung up. Even though it was sad for it to happen with a child in the house, the general feeling is he wanted his son and family with him, for a final weekend. I imagine he would rather be found by a loved one, than strangers. They said there was little blood, and the damage was mostly internal, so it wasn't unduly tramatic looking. His son said he thought Hunter had fallen asleep, as he was slumped in his chair, in front of his typewriter. He left people who loved him, and I wish he could have found a different solution to his pain.

[<3mekthx]

I'm not going to defend this suicide either, BUT I'm not old and I'm not in constant pain/very poor health.

[bluesbrother965]

RIP