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Hunter S. Thompson kills himself
Sad news. Author Hunter S. Thompson committed suicide tonight. He was 67.
Besides the 1972 drug-hazed classic ['Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'], he is credited with pioneering New Journalism -- or ``gonzo journalism'' -- in which the writer made himself an essential component of the story.
As my friend Kevin suggests, Thompson was in some ways a forerunner of the We Media movement.
Yeah, he was known for gonzo journalism, but when you strip it down, it was about the idea that anyone with a typewriter, a modicum of reporting talent and the gumption to ask the hard questions could be a reporter. Tom Wolfe, Gay Talese, Jimmy Breslin and others dressed it up in fancier clothes and called it "the new journalism," but the idea was that journalistic objectivity was pretty much bullshit, that the writer was very much a part of the story he was covering -- a notion that is now a core precept of the blogosphere.
Thompson was one of a kind. Rest in peace? No friggin' way.
February 20, 2005 at 10:15 PM in Current Affairs | Permalink
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Comments
i read somewhere in the last 24 hours or so, someone also crediting him with starting New Journalism, aka Wolfe, etc. this was one of the first 'breaking news' of a death on the internet that really hit me. why wait until 67 to do it? also weird that the news spread on President's Day (another thing i've read - that he was mad at Bush and the world in general...) in any case, he will be missed...
Posted by: kpaul at Feb 21, 2005 3:49:53 PM
I will miss him ... BIG HUG for Juan, Jen, Willam and Anita… who will never be able to fill the hole left in there lives by the man in spite of the myth and legend attached to his life..
I am a long time friend of Juan we went to the Aspen Community School together I have been using the blogs to try to send a message of love to him and the family but I know he is totally swamped because of the media attention at Owl farm and I need to let him know that we care for Him, Anita and the whole family in this time of tragedy while respecting his privacy
Let's see if we can get the word out ...
He was first THE MAN….
He became the myth and legend
To me he was several people.
He was my best friend’s dad although he always called his dad Hunter
(At Juan’s wedding he said to a friend about me “Look there’s another little bastard I raised that turned out OK”)
He was Hunter S. Thompson retiring shy southerner who loved guns and his freedom
And
He was the Dr. Gonzo who we all know who would be in your face and try to kill you if you attempted to try to take away his guns, drugs, freedom, privacy and the god given right to go into an explosive tirade about it.
To be such a person required him to have a unique emotional support structure. These people now need our support, love and understanding in this time of grief.
Bradley Laboe
Posted by: Bradley Laboe at Feb 22, 2005 7:52:43 AM
