Mistah Gonzo, He dead.
I keep expecting to find out it's a hoax. Maybe it's just my own sense of disbelief. Bastard should have run for President instead. Or at least took someone out with him.
I will miss him. *sniffle*
It's quite possible that Hunter Thompson may have been an evil old coot in his personal life. We just don't know, as he was very private, and much of his public persona was actually a well thought out piece of performance art. So it's equally possible he was also a gentle, kind soul. He kept that mysterious inner self for his intimates, and presented the outer manifestations of his life and art for our edification and entertainment. A blistering satirist, a brave snake who ripped away the lies of our culture and made us laugh at the horrors that could be endured no other way; we desperately need him now in these evil, savage times. I am saddened and stunned to have lost him.
His writing had a life-changing impact on me. Right up there with Lester Bangs, Spalding Gray and Patti Smith (only Patti being still with us now). Actually, Hunter may even have been above them all for me... so much a part of my internal landscape that I don't know who I'd be if it weren't for his influence. Today I feel like a sad survivor, with so many of my mentors gone.
Granted, without his example I would have done far less drugs, for good or ill. But neither would I have found the courage to write like a volcano and take the daring leaps and stupefying pratfalls inherent in "wallowing with the eagles and soaring with the pigs." I won't have any children to name after Hunter, but maybe a pet and/or a book dedication (One of my earlier works that never saw publication was dedicated to him, among a fine few others).
And about that drug thing: Let's be honest, in these revisionist days - many of the fabulous, mind-expanding, culturally revolutionary breakthroughs that were brought about during the drug-culture years simply cannot be taken out of that particular context. They cannot be held apart and "just say no"'d into a more comfortable belief that these changes would have happened without the drugs (and the general atmosphere of risk-taking that was part and parcel of life in the sixties and early seventies). The world was a different place before and after those years. And we were different. And the changes we all went through then have had a huge impact, whether or not it's known or acknowledged, on everyone who's come along since. Or everyone who's mattered. Sure, some of it was scary, some of it went too far, some of it eventually burned out into Bad Craziness and way too many tokes over the line (sweet jesus), but those experiences are an inextricable part of the environment that formed many of our best and brightest. It was colorful and dangerous and probably necessary to kick people out of the repression and rigidity of what came before. It was Neptune in Scorpio and all the Sex and Drugs and Rock-n-Roll that implies. And Hunter was a brave commando charting the waters for all who were too timid to take that journey themselves. And for those who got on the bus with him, well, as they say, you just had to be there.
My packmates yuriverse and paul_hamish summed it up well here: http://www.livejournal.com/users/yuriverse/73520.html
and here: http://demiorator.blogspot.com/2005/02/goodnight-mr-thompson.html
Light upon your path, you dangerous old freak. We love you, like the fine mutant you were, are, and in our memories will always be. May there be fine words, fierce courage, and peace and healing for you and your loved ones. Slàinte Mhath, Hunter. May there be a returning for thee.
I will miss him. *sniffle*
It's quite possible that Hunter Thompson may have been an evil old coot in his personal life. We just don't know, as he was very private, and much of his public persona was actually a well thought out piece of performance art. So it's equally possible he was also a gentle, kind soul. He kept that mysterious inner self for his intimates, and presented the outer manifestations of his life and art for our edification and entertainment. A blistering satirist, a brave snake who ripped away the lies of our culture and made us laugh at the horrors that could be endured no other way; we desperately need him now in these evil, savage times. I am saddened and stunned to have lost him.
His writing had a life-changing impact on me. Right up there with Lester Bangs, Spalding Gray and Patti Smith (only Patti being still with us now). Actually, Hunter may even have been above them all for me... so much a part of my internal landscape that I don't know who I'd be if it weren't for his influence. Today I feel like a sad survivor, with so many of my mentors gone.
Granted, without his example I would have done far less drugs, for good or ill. But neither would I have found the courage to write like a volcano and take the daring leaps and stupefying pratfalls inherent in "wallowing with the eagles and soaring with the pigs." I won't have any children to name after Hunter, but maybe a pet and/or a book dedication (One of my earlier works that never saw publication was dedicated to him, among a fine few others).
And about that drug thing: Let's be honest, in these revisionist days - many of the fabulous, mind-expanding, culturally revolutionary breakthroughs that were brought about during the drug-culture years simply cannot be taken out of that particular context. They cannot be held apart and "just say no"'d into a more comfortable belief that these changes would have happened without the drugs (and the general atmosphere of risk-taking that was part and parcel of life in the sixties and early seventies). The world was a different place before and after those years. And we were different. And the changes we all went through then have had a huge impact, whether or not it's known or acknowledged, on everyone who's come along since. Or everyone who's mattered. Sure, some of it was scary, some of it went too far, some of it eventually burned out into Bad Craziness and way too many tokes over the line (sweet jesus), but those experiences are an inextricable part of the environment that formed many of our best and brightest. It was colorful and dangerous and probably necessary to kick people out of the repression and rigidity of what came before. It was Neptune in Scorpio and all the Sex and Drugs and Rock-n-Roll that implies. And Hunter was a brave commando charting the waters for all who were too timid to take that journey themselves. And for those who got on the bus with him, well, as they say, you just had to be there.
My packmates yuriverse and paul_hamish summed it up well here: http://www.livejournal.com/users/yuriverse/73520.html
and here: http://demiorator.blogspot.com/2005/02/goodnight-mr-thompson.html
Light upon your path, you dangerous old freak. We love you, like the fine mutant you were, are, and in our memories will always be. May there be fine words, fierce courage, and peace and healing for you and your loved ones. Slàinte Mhath, Hunter. May there be a returning for thee.