Writer Hunter S. Thompson commits suicide

[Lord_of_the_Dense]

'Fear and Loathing' author, 'gonzo journalism' pioneer was 67

DENVER - Hunter S. Thompson, the hard-living writer who inserted himself into his accounts of America's underbelly and popularized a first-person form of journalism in books such as "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," has committed suicide.

Thompson was found dead Sunday in his Aspen-area home of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, sheriff's officials said. He was 67. Thompson's wife, Anita, had gone out before the shooting and was not home at the time. His son, Juan, found the body.

Thompson "took his life with a gunshot to the head," the wife and son said in a statement released to the Aspen Daily News. The statement asked for privacy for Thompson's family and, using the Latin term for Earth, added, "He stomped terra."

Read entire story here.

[Lord_of_the_Dense]

Thompson's Ashes May Be Shot From Cannon

DENVER - Hunter S. Thompson, the "gonzo journalist" with a penchant for drugs, guns and flame-thrower prose, might have one more salvo in store for everyone: Friends and relatives want to blast his ashes out of a cannon, just as he wished.

"If that's what he wanted, we'll see if we can pull it off," said historian Douglas Brinkley, a friend of Thompson's and now the family's spokesman.

Thompson, who shot himself to death at his Aspen-area home Sunday at 67, said several times he wanted an artillery send-off for his remains.

Read entire story here.

[Ed]

I've never even heard of the guy, but he sounds like he got a few people thinking, which is always a good thing.  Wonder why he topped himself?

Sad that his son had to find him - you would have thought he would consider the time and place of his demise better than that.

[JoyceCarter]

'Sad that his son had to find him'

Yes, dreadful.  I suppose if someone gets that far gone in despair that it comes to suicide, they don't get into the area of consideration for whoever the poor person is who's going to find them.   They don't say in the report how old the son is in this case.  I've known two young lads down the years whose fathers committed suicide (business worries in each case), and who found the body.  The boys were both 12 years old.  The first father had killed himeself with a tube from the car exhaust.  His wife was eight months pregnant with twins at the time.  The second father had hanged himself from the banisters while the wife and son were out shopping, and the boy was the one who came ahead to get the door open when they got back.

[Walker]

This is a monumental drag.  :cry:  HST was the author who swung me this way instead of the *other* when I was in high school. His book, 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas', long ago became a cult classic, right around the time I read it- back in the mid 80's. More importantly, he was never afraid to challenge the establishment. He wrote for some high profile magazines and was esteemed for his political non-stance. He was indeed a hard driving man and made Tim Leary look like a pansy. I remember an article a while back when police kept having to go to his house and ask him to stop shooting his handgun at night. He claimed he liked doing it because the flames coming out the barrel were so cool. I'm gonna miss him.

[Ed]

'Sad that his son had to find him'

Yes, dreadful. I suppose if someone gets that far gone in despair that it comes to suicide, they don't get into the area of consideration for whoever the poor person is who's going to find them. They don't say in the report how old the son is in this case. I've known two young lads down the years whose fathers committed suicide (business worries in each case), and who found the body. The boys were both 12 years old. The first father had killed himeself with a tube from the car exhaust. His wife was eight months pregnant with twins at the time. The second father had hanged himself from the banisters while the wife and son were out shopping, and the boy was the one who came ahead to get the door open when they got back.

That's awful - I couldn't bear the thought of one of my kids seeing me like that.  You would think, regardless of their mental condition, these people would consider the impact their actions would have on their family.  Incredibly selfish thing to do, I think.

[Ed]

This is a monumental drag.  :cry:  HST was the author who swung me this way instead of the *other* when I was in high school. His book, 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas', long ago became a cult classic, right around the time I read it- back in the mid 80's. More importantly, he was never afraid to challenge the establishment. He wrote for some high profile magazines and was esteemed for his political non-stance. He was indeed a hard driving man and made Tim Leary look like a pansy. I remember an article a while back when police kept having to go to his house and ask him to stop shooting his handgun at night. He claimed he liked doing it because the flames coming out the barrel were so cool. I'm gonna miss him.

See, this is where the conspiracy theorist in me wonders if somebody had him silenced.  A lot of high profile anti establishment figures seem to meet with sudden death.  I can imagine, somewhere in the higher echelons of government, somebody saying something like, "Right, that's it - he's gone too far this time.  Shut him up."

[Walker]

You make a good point, Blunt, except that he hasn't been that active in the polictical arena for years now. Back in the 60's and 70's he was a lot more outspoken about crooked poitics, etc. but recently he's been pretty quiet. I think he was damaged from all the hard drugs he did and just couldn't cope any longer. Something tells me we may never know.

[JoyceCarter]

I wondered the same thing as Blunt.

Walker, do you know if his son at least is adult?

[Walker]

I'm not sure of his age, Joyce. His name is Juan and he is married and has a child, so he wasn't a youngster. If you do a google search, his words are quite surprising. He and HST's wife seem ok with it. Apparently this was just HST's way- when it was time to go, it was time to go. Quite shocking really.
He touched a great many people and even the write-ups about his demise are fascinating. He's recently been writing for sporting magazines but, true to his form, remained truthful to the point of being troublesome for the less than honest. RIP HST.

[canadian]

HST doing a Hemingway just seemed inevitable, IMHO. He'd obviously discussed it with people before. And now his ashes are going to be shoved into a big mortar and exploded into space, complete with lots of noise and colour. Just what he wanted. The world of creative humanity is truly a wonderous place. 

[Ed]

Yeah, I suppose it's better to go out with a bang than a whimper.  Still, it would be better again to go out peacefully in your sleep... or straddled by a nubile young wench at the moment of mutual climax

[Lord_of_the_Dense]

Thompson Shot Himself While on Phone

ASPEN, Colo. - 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.

Read entire story here.

[Ed]

Cheers for that, LotD   Sad that his 6yr old grandson was in the house at the time - think of how this must have affected him.  A shock like that can scar a young mind for life

From what I've read on the subject of his death, the guy seems to have been a legend in his own mind, and was consumed with a desire to perpetuate that legend, regardless of the toll it took on those around him.

That, to me, makes him arrogantly self absorbed and unreasonably selfish.

[kimbly]

I think his "selfishness" just showed the depth of his despair. Once you pass the point, you pass it.  It is still horrifically sad that a child was present. I often wonder why more people just can't take the extra step and go away and do it. Some jacksass here in L.A. parked on the light train tracks to off himself and changed his mind at the last second. He escaped but two trains derailed and 11 people died.  You should have seen the police guard he had going to and from jail.  People wanted to skin him alive. 

But back to HST. Despite  his less than elegant escape from life, I am sad to hear about him. Fear and Loathing is one of my favorite books.

[LesFloyd]

The same thing happened here a couple of months before, Kimbly... a suicider parked on the tracks, but didn't get out of the car, like the guy in L.A. Nine other people were killed. I don't think either of the guys who caused the crashes wanted to hurt anyone but themselves, but it's clear they didn't give much thought to the consequences of their actions, perhaps like HST having a child in his house.

Maybe there should be training courses for people who want to commit suicide without physically or mentally harming others around them?

[JoyceCarter]

Maybe there should be training courses for people who want to commit suicide without physically or mentally harming others around them?

Puzzle advertising that one...

[LesFloyd]

Maybe on the top of high bridges, cliffs... beside rail tracks and near particularly unhygenic curry restaurants?

[JoyceCarter]

You're obviously going to make your fortune.

[LesFloyd]

Money would destroy me. 

[JoyceCarter]

Could be a more comfortable way to go...

[LashSlash]

Jerzy Kosinski did it with a plastic bag over his head whilst in the tub

http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/8200/kosinski.htm

[Walker]

When I die I wanna go peacefully in my sleep, lilke my grandpa.
Not kicking and screaming like his passengers

[Ed]

Jerzy Kosinski did it with a plastic bag over his head whilst in the tub

http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/8200/kosinski.htm

Yeesh - what a way to go   That takes some determination

[canadian]

What is it about brilliance that drives some owners to such distraction that they can no longer tolerate living with it? Jerzy Kosinski's writing was amazing. As was Hemingway's and HST's.

If it's not drugs or alcohol used to end it all, it's weapons or sharp implements. Hasn't any over-eager scientist ever done a study about this?

[Ed]

I think it's down to that old saying about genius being close to madness