hunter s thompson dead

[Ah_Pook]

apparently he shot himself. waiting on links.

edit http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OBIT_THOMPSON?SITE=KTVB&SECTION=HOME

ASPEN, Colo. (AP) -- Hunter S. Thompson, the acerbic counterculture writer who popularized a new form of 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 time in Las Vegas, he is credited with pioneering "gonzo journalism," purposefully slanted writing full of the writer's opinions.

Other books include "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."

[davy]

just saw this on the news.

fucking arthur miller last week. hunter s. thompson this week.

the dying off of america's intelligentsia has begun.

 

[elpollodiablo]

That fucking sucks. I grew up on this man's work, even before I had business reading anything of the type. If it is true, I'm glad it was by his own hand. Why would this man, of all men, allow death any measure of control over his will? Why should he die in the dark, or writhing on the ground, clutching his chest? Fucking man was an institution. You just knew that if he died, it'd be because he let it fucking happen.
Another toothpick. Amen.

[Nick Ink]

This is sad and shocking.

'The Great Shark Hunt' was the one that hooked me.

[milly balgeary]

this is shocking. ever since i read hells angels i admired the guy. well, there's nothing admirable about suicide.

[swilkes]

Oh man, this is sad. To say the guy has totally lost his marbles in recent years is an understatement, but his 70s & 80s works still hold up, I think.  I had the incomparable pleasure of reading "The Curse of Lono" while I was on the Big Island, where it takes place, and I think it's still my favorite.

My favorite HST quote:

"Nixon was so crooked he needed servants to help him screw his pants on every morning."

[jebreject]

This is fucked.  The most depressing thing I've heard in quite some time.  It's the worst that it was suicide.  How many of my favourite writers have taken their own lives?  It's fucking ridiculous.  At least ole HST didn't leave a note sayin' "Messy, ain't it?"  Fuck.

Well, we have this picture to remember him by, and I think it's a nice one:

[Ah_Pook]

"hunter s thompson is dead."

[moneyshot]

kingdom of fear was a very sad book. the present day stuff, anyway.

i always hoped i would get a chance to meet him and get yelled at. oh well.

[TheNames]

I wonder if they'll do that whole exploding fist with 2 thumbs for his funeral