CNN.com - Hunter S. Thompson dead at 67 - Feb 21, 2005

Sad news today that despite having no time I cannot let pass without mention. Hunter Thompson, one of my idols, maniac, patriot, writer, shot himself overnight in Woody Creek, Colorado. Those who saw Hunter only as the kind of caricature he presented of himself miss a lot. He was, at his core, an American idealist, a mad chamion of liberty, and though his best days were behind him as an author, he could still startle with some mind-bogglingly astute and funny tuen of phrase.

But he was at his most poignant in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," musing on the death of the hopeful ideals of the '60's:

"There was no point in fighting -- on our side or theirs," he wrote. "We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark -- the place where the wave finally broke and rolled back."

It's such a very touching line and betrays the deep sense of sadness and rage at the perversion of the American Dream that was the essence of Hunter's writing.

I can scarcely imagine a weapons expert like him accidentally shooting himself; the first thought is that he must have been crazy on drugs, but HST has done more drugs that hald of Berekeley and would be unlikely to lose it under such circumstances; there are no details, but I can only imagine him pulling his own plug if he had become horribly ill or something. In any case -- it's a great loss.

I'll write more on my next night off -- the next time I will get home before 11 pm -- which wil be March 1st or so.
CNN.com - Hunter S. Thompson dead at 67 - Feb 21, 2005