Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005)
Hunter S. Thompson was born on the 18thJuly 1937 to a middle class family in Louisville, Kentucky. When his father died, it reduced the family to poverty, which made Hunter criminalised due to relying on robbing as a way of making money; he was sentenced to 60 days in state prison. After being released, he joined the U.S Air Force before subsequently becoming a journalist. During his time as a journalist he had brief employment at both ‘Time’ and ‘The Middletown Daily Record’. Hunter then moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1960 for a short while before eventually hitchhiking across America; ending up in California where he wrote two Novels, ‘The Rum Diary’ (based on his experience in Puerto Rico) and ‘Prince Jellyfish’.
Through the first Half of the 60s Hunter travelled extensively through America working for various papers before eventually ending up in San Francisco, where he fully immersed himself in the drug and hippie culture.
In 1965 ‘The Nations’ Carey McWilliams hired Hunter to write a column based on the Hells Angels of California. Due to the popularity of the article he received several book offers, thus spending the next year living with the Hells Angels. This resulted in Thompson’s first publication, ‘Hells Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs’. While he was with them, Hunter gained many stories; for example one story goes, hunter was in a bar one evening when one Angle that went by the name ‘Junkie George’ was beating his wife, when suddenly in defence his dog bit his leg and then proceeded to beat the dog. Attempting to intervene Hunter shouted, “Only a punk beats his wife and his dog”. In response ‘Junkie George’ savagely beat Hunter before he left in his car.
In 1970, Thompson wrote the article, ‘The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved’. This was the birth of ‘Gonzo Journalism’. The style takes the form of first person and reports the story as if the journalist was a part of the story. Until in 1972 Hunter released the novel, ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’. This introduced Gonzo journalism to the masses and bought it into the mainstream. The story follows a reporter by the name of Raoul Duke and his attorney Dr Gonzo’s trip to Las Vegas to cover the Mint 400 and a police convention about narcotics; as well as trying to get to the heart of the American dream. The book was very well received and in 1998 Terry Gillian of Monty python directed a motion picture of the novel starring Benicio Del Toro and none other than a good friend of Hunter, Johnny Depp.
Hunter s. Thompson was different. He was a self confessed freak and allowed drugs to control his life. So much so, this was his daily routine:
In 2005, Hunter took his own life, via a self inflicted gunshot to the head. On August 20th 2005 a private Funeral funded by Johnny Depp was held. Guests included; Jack Nicholson, John Cusack, Benicio Del Toro, Sean Penn, Bill Murray and John Oates. Hunters Ashes were placed in a canon to the song ‘Mr Tambourine Man’ by Bob Dylan, and fired out into the sky to the song, ’Spirit in the Sky’ by Norman Greenbaum. Hunter’s mannerisms and characteristics are forever eternalised in his works and the film ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’.
Here’s a clip from the film to show you how he would talk and how he would act: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOmtVFQ3WF8
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