Monday, February 21, 2005
HUNTER: Hunter Thompson killed himself. This makes me very sad. I have a hard time imagining what would drive somebody to ever kill themselves but in this case I have an even more difficult time with it. I wouldn't be surprised if drugs are involved but you never know.
When I first read 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' it totally blew me away. It still has my favorite opening line of any book: "We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold." I always hear that in Johnny Depp's impersonation of the man from the movie and it sets the stage for the book perfectly. I bought a copy of the book from the famous City Lights bookstore on my first trip to San Francisco and it came with a couple of other essays he'd written. Reading them I couldn't help but think 'Why is nobody else doing journalism like this?' He was a crazy motherfucker and I'll miss hearing and reading him.
That reminds me that I never ended up buying the special edition 'Fear and Loathing' DVD. I think I'll rectify that today.
Update: Here's what Warren Ellis had to say about the man and his death. I tend to agree about suicides.