8/2/2019 Hunter S. Thompson: RIP

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Hunter S. Thompson, R.I.P.

K. A. Laity

This past weekend, gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson shot himself in his Colorado

home, which he often referred to as his well-armed compound, although he also claimed

that his reputation was enough to keep people away. We may never know if it was terminaldisgust with the direction of this country or the simple attrition of age. After all, he was 67,

had a hip replacement and recently broke a leg. Pain might be the one drug he decided to

do without. But as an outspoken critic of the W vision of America and the precipitousdecline of civil rights, he may at last have given into despair.

Thompson will be remembered best for his self-proclaimed "gonzo" journalism, the notion

that not only was objectivity not possible, but it was probably not all that desirable. Toinhabit the world you studiedwhether it was the Kentucky Derby, the Nixon presidential

campaign, or the Hell's Angelscame with risks as well as rewards.

In a culture where paid mouthpieces help push the current administration's agenda in secret,Thompson has long been admired for being up front about his own beliefs and prejudices.

While he was lionized by the 60s counterculture for the drug-fueled odyssey ofFear andLoathing in Las Vegas, his own views were distinctly libertarian. A lifetime member of the

NRA, he was unabashedly proud of his guns as well as his notorious drug habits.

Thompson has said, "I do not advocate the use of dangerous drugs, wild amounts of alcoholand violence and weirdness... but they've always worked for me."

Thompson understood the inevitability of remaining the outsider if you want to tell the

truth. Yet it was this outsider status that made many celebrate him. He was immortalizedas Uncle Duke in Gary Trudeau's comic stripDoonesbury. His thinly veiled alter-ego

Raoul Duke has inspired two cinematic portraits; first, in the lamentable Where the BuffaloRoam (1980), a toothless party piece that had a lot more to do with Animal House thanwith the man himself, starring Bill Murray before he really became an actor. More

successfully, the spirit ofFear and Loathing(1998) was captured in the film by Terry

Gilliam, himself no slouch in the gonzo approach to creation. Ably supported by a stellarsupporting cast including Benicio Del Toro and Christina Ricci, Johnny Depp eerily

conjured the spirit of Thompson down to his bow-legged walk, a mimicry that the man

himself admired. Gilliams film proved successful not just because he captured the drug-

fueled chaos, but because he also caught Thompsons despair at the death of the AmericanDream.

In more recent times, Thompson spoke out against what he saw as the descent towardfascism taken by the current administration since 9/11. Two years ago, in an interview

with Salon, he characterized the Bush government caustically: I believe the Republicans

have seen what they've believed all along, which is that this democracy stuff is bull, andthat people don't want to be burdened by political affairs. That people would rather just be

taken care of. The oligarchy doesn't need an educated public. And maybe the nation does

prefer tyranny. I think that's what worries me. It goes back to Fourth Amendment issues.

8/2/2019 Hunter S. Thompson: RIP

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How much do you value your freedom? Would you trade your freedom for some illusion

of security? Freedom is something that dies unless it's used.

Thompson always sought that freedom, even from his own caricatured fame, refusing to be

a hero to those who sought to idolize him. A journalist to the end, information was always

the key. "I've found you can deal with the system a lot easier if you use their rulesbyunderstanding their rules, by using their rules against them." He never underestimated the

brutality of the system, but he may have finally grown tired of the fight.

See the entire 2003 Salon interview at:

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/02/03/thompson/index1.html