http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/books/02/2...t.ap/index.html

Author Hunter S. Thompson commits suicide
Journalist penned 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'
Monday, February 21, 2005 Posted: 12:34 AM EST (0534 GMT)



Thompson, center, with actors Benicio Del Toro, left, and Johnny Depp at the 1998 premiere of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas."


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DENVER, Colorado (AP) -- 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.

"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.

Juan Thompson found his father's body. Thompson's wife, Anita, was not home at the time.

Besides the 1972 drug-hazed classic about Thompson's visit to Las Vegas, he also wrote "Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72." The central character in those wild, sprawling satires was "Dr. Thompson," a snarling, drug- and alcohol-crazed observer and participant.

Thompson is credited with pioneering New Journalism -- or, as he dubbed it, "gonzo journalism" -- in which the writer made himself an essential component of the story. Much of his earliest work appeared in Rolling Stone magazine.

"Fiction is based on reality unless you're a fairy-tale artist," Thompson told the AP in 2003. "You have to get your knowledge of life from somewhere. You have to know the material you're writing about before you alter it."

An acute observer of the decadence and depravity in American life, Thompson also wrote such collections "Generation of Swine" and "Songs of the Doomed." His first ever novel, "The Rum Diary," written in 1959, was first published in 1998.

Thompson was a counterculture icon at the height of the Watergate era, and Richard Nixon once said he represented "that dark, venal, and incurably violent side of the American character."

Thompson also was the model for Gary Trudeau's balding "Uncle Duke" in the comic strip "Doonesbury" and was portrayed on screen by Johnny Depp in a film adaptation of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas."

Other books include "The Great Shark Hunt," "Hell's Angels" and "The Proud Highway." His most recent effort was "Hey Rube: Blood Sport, the Bush Doctrine, and the Downward Spiral of Dumbness."

His compound in Woody Creek, not far from Aspen, was almost as legendary as Thompson. He prized peacocks and weapons; in 2000, he accidentally shot and slightly wounded his assistant, Deborah Fuller, trying to chase a bear off his property.

Just reading one of his last 'espn page 2' stories now :

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story...thompson/050216

You dont think he may have been trialing this shotgun golf game at home?

Seriously thou, this guy was a legend, its very sad to see him go like this.

Like, wow, man.

Major bummer.

It's amazing he lived so long! And not so amazing he shot himself - accidently or on purpose! I knew his early writings well, "Vegas", "Shark Hunt". Knew a lot of folks who were into Gonzo Journalism too.

My news editor, Bob, at the college paper was among them. A few years later, and a few years after "the incident", Bob got to live the dream -- he got a hold of a security guard's uniform and as the headline to the story he wrote said "Waltzed into Three Mile Island!"

No, not the front door, into the control room, into the room outside the reactor where you put on the yellow suits, etc etc. We knew Hunter would have been proud. Ah, those were the days.

Next drunk, I will be sure to toast Hunter. A sober one would never do him the justice he deserves.

All night has been a furious drunk.

Almost done with a bottle of Single Barrel Bakers by Jim Beam 107 proof.
Seemed fitting since there wasnt any Wild Turkey in the house.

The domain is running black - as I told CJ earlier. Theres nothing left to say.

Seems a fitting tribute to my namesake...and inspiration for the domain.

That sucks. (see avatar)

If I can focus enough I will black out my avatar too.
I found more bourbon and I have many more books to read thru.

If I can focus enough I will black out my avatar too.
I found more bourbon and I have many more books to read thru. [/b][/quote]
that shit is truely disgusting. labret would be proud. :matey:

Fear and Loating on the Campaign Trail was the first book of his I read and I was in love after that.
This is so sad. My next drink will be in his honor.

I charge my glass to you Hunter ..

Sad, sad news.

:cryin: suicide is always a sad thing...

Taken from Gonzo's blog:

http://kblogger.com/blog/index.php/weblog/...rn_pro_rip_hst/