Author Hunter S. Thompson Commits Suicide
Writer Penned 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'
The Associated Press
Sunday, February 20, 2005; 11:42 PM
ASPEN, Colo. -- Hunter S. Thompson, the acerbic counterculture writer
who popularized a new form of fictional journalism in books like "Fear
and Loathing in Las Vegas," fatally shot himself Sunday night at his
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.
Near Aspen, Colorado, Hunter Thompson, who is the author of the
counterculture classic, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", lets the
camera have a quick look at his usually sunglass-covered eyes on
December 22, 1981. (AP)
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 New Journalism -- or "gonzo journalism"
-- in which the writer made himself an essential component of the
story.
An acute observer of the decadence and depravity in American life,
Thompson wrote such books as "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail"
in 1973 and the collections "Generation of Swine" and "Songs of the
Doomed." His first ever novel, "The Rum Diary," written in 1959, was
first published in 1998.
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."
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