On February 20th, 2005, Hunter S. Thompson took his own life at his fortified ranch in Woody Creek, Colorado.
Thompson, an American author and journalist, got his start in Journalism after while serving in the Air force. He landed a job by lying about his experience, and became a sports writer for the ‘The Command Courier’. He also worked for The Playground news, but had to write under an assumed name, because the air force would not let airmen have other Jobs.
He was internationally known in 1967, when he wrote the book Hells Angels: The strange and Terrible Saga of the outlaw motorcycle gangs. He rode with the Hell’s Angels for a year, and told stories of his experience, and the experience of others.
In 1959, Hunter re-typed F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby in order to learn about how a great writer writes.
In 1960, He traveled to Puerto Rico to work for a paper, which folded soon after his arrival. He tried to land a job at the San Juan Star, The only English language paper in the area, but was turned down. Thompson would eventually compile his experiences in Puerto Rico into a book called The Rum Diaries, but it would not be published until 1994.
Thompson changed writing and Journalism forever in 1970, Thompson wrote the article The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved. It was his first article where his signature writing style was used, Gonzo Journalism
Gonzo Journalism Involved the journalist using the first person point of view, and the events of the story were centered on the writer. Gonzo often mixed reality with fiction. Soon, almost all of Thompson’s work would be in the gonzo format.
One of Thompson’s most popular works ‘Fear and loathing in Las Vegas’ (1970), used the Gonzo style. It was written to represent the failure of the 1960s counterculture, and the proverbial death of the American Dream. It was widely popular, and introduced Gonzo Journalism to the masses.
In the 1980s and early 90s, much of Thompson’s early work Journalism work ,short stories, and excerpts from his books was published into three books. Fans wanted Hunter to publish new works, some even saw the books as a quick way to make money, just a rehashing of old stories because he didn’t want write new material. It was a way to preserve much of Hunter’s early work and Journalism career. It also highlighted much of his best work.
In 1998, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was made into a film. It stared Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro. The work of Hunter Thompson had been brought to a new generation.
Thompson published numerous articles in various periodicals. He wrote for many publications, including Rolling Stone, Esquire, The Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Time, Vanity Fair, and Playboy. Up until his death in 2005, Thompson was on the Rolling Stone’s masthead as chief of the "National Affairs Desk”. He wrote dozens of books, and put out a hand full of collections of letters and short stories.
So we shall let the reader answer this question for himself: who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? – Hunter S. Thompson
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