The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson

My father has always been a huge fan of Hunter Thompson, he was the one who turned me on to him originally, but he never really got to speak to Thompson. He went to several small scale Q&A’s with him and spoke to him briefly a few times, but there was one time he always remembered:

When my father was in college in Tampa, Florida, Thompson came to speak to a group of radio journalists, one being my dad, and my father brought two people - My uncle and an old college friend I’ve never met named Mike. Thompson showed up, late as usual, had a bottle of Wild Turkey and stood in the middle of the room, talking and answering question. Mike was a medical student who went through a massive mental breakdown the last week, so my uncle and father were trying to keep him on a tight leash to avoid him doing any crazy shit. Of course, in being enthralled in Thompson’s story telling, Mike slipped away. He wandered around the corner of the gymnasium they were in until he walked up behind Thompson and sat down right behind him. Thompson stopped talking and looked behind him, starred at Mike for a few moments, then turned back around and kept talking. Mike stayed there for the remainder of the event.

Another incident was when my father scheduled to do a radio interview with him, but Thompson never showed up as he passed out drunk and high.

Hey, I can’t get the image onto here but I made a Hunter S. Thompson inspired model and animation thing 

Here’s the image - http://asphinctersayswhaat.tumblr.com/post/43511700170

and here’s the video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yM-KVodSP0

Fore Doc.

Happy 75.

Love,

Gnu

Dr, Gonzo

21 years ago, my friend and mentor Dr. John W gave me my first copy of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Though fairly well-read at that point, as a college sophomore I was as full of shit as every other college sophomore at that point.

That book, at that time, changed my life. Forget the booze, the acid, the madness, the fear - Hunter Stockton had a finger on the pulse of humanity - not just ‘gonzo/participatory’ journalism.

Go back and read what he wrote-all of it. Read it along with a few other great American writers (Vonnegut, Heller, Kerouac, Wolfe, Lee, Fitzgerald, etc.). Open a bottle or two of wine…uncork a bottle of whisky…pop open a few dozen beers and lose yourself in their words and your world.

You owe it to yourself and to him.

Goddamn I miss you, you fucker. Thank and curse yøu for the love of booze and LSD and fast cars with no tops and loud music and Samoan attorneys-all of it.

Selah:

Travellerb

Paper-craft Hunter S. Thompson

By Bat Country artist Matty Freebles

Happy Birthday Doc.