I am very saddened by the passing of Dr. Thompson last evening.  Here are a number of tributes to him and his work that I culled from a thread I posted to www.democraticunderground.com.  Thanks you to everyone that left comments!

kris10ep  (36 posts)

1. My tribute here: http://kpramblings.blogspot.com/2005/02/hst.html

Up extremely early this morning, I was saddened to discover Mr. Hunter S. Thompson took his life yesterday.

Thompson is an icon of journalism, developing a style truly his own, that many people have sought to imitate, but no one has done quite as distinctly and memorably.

One of the most memorable articles I read during the 2004 election (and I read a lot of 'em) was a Thompson contribution to Rolling Stone.
The classic line from this one....
"Nixon was a professional politician, and I despised everything he stood for -- but if he were running for president this year against the evil Bush-Cheney gang, I would happily vote for him."

Mr. Hunter S. Thompson did so much for literature in his life, and he will truly be missed.

(COPIED BY DA BUT CHECK OUT THE SITE)

ixion  (1000+ posts)      Mon Feb-21-05 08:10 AM

2. rage into the night, good doctor

 youre bravery to explore the dark underbelly of Life, and the truths you told while standing in the very fires of the Big Bang will inspire generations to come. Your work is done now, old friend, fellow patriot and psychedelic warrior. I guess it finally got weird enough. Enjoy the time off.

Dr. Thompson is one of the Great Spirits, and one of the people who inspired me to become a writer, so many years ago. He will not be forgotten.

shadowknows69 (660 posts)      Mon Feb-21-05 10:54 AM

Response to Reply #2

32. beautifully said ixion n/t

Advisor: Sire the people are revolting!!! King: You bet...They stink on ice.

Mandate My Ass  (1000+ posts)      Mon Feb-21-05 08:16 AM

3. I just heard on AAR!

 Oh man what a shock.

 Of all the writers Ive tried to turn my son onto, he took to HST like a duck to water.

 RIP, Dr. Gonzo. 

"...laws affecting our lives are being made by something other than a democratic process." Molly Ivins

 shadowknows69 (660 posts)      Mon Feb-21-05 08:20 AM

Response to Reply #3

 4. I hurt so bad today I cant stand it.

  Anyone who is just discovering Hunter through this horrible news do yourself a huge favor and go read this important author. In particular find as many of Rolling Stone columns as you can and "The Great Shark Hunt" and "Fear and loathing in Las Vegas" are required reading. DONT JUST RENT THE MOVIE!!! You lazy bastards. RIP Hunter. You were a guardian of truth in this country and your work will continue to inspire until they finally ban and start burning your books along with all other classic literature. If all our revolutionaries leave us the rest will be overrun by the mob of the sheeple and their eager overlords. Someone has to emerge to fill the role Hunter has left vacant. A true category unto himself. Wise, insane father of Gonzo Journalism. We love you and will sorely miss you.Try not to slip any of the angels a mickey while youre up there.

Advisor: Sire the people are revolting!!! King: You bet...They stink on ice.

blueknight (834 posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 08:32 AM

Response to Reply #4

6. my fellow kentuckian,

i loved your work. you inspired me.from one wildcat fan to another. you will be missed, rip doctor

hlthe2b  (1000+ posts)      Mon Feb-21-05 10:20 AM

Response to Reply #4

25. Surely Rolling Stone will release a special volume/edition with his

writings? I think Ill write them to request. Perhaps others will as well. RIP, Hunter S.

 "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." : George Santayana

Fighting Irish  (1000+ posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 08:31 AM

5. I am totally shocked!

 But surprised that HST lived so long considering his chaotic lifestyle. I thought the guy was indestructable.

Nonetheless, HST was a phenomenal author, and he will be missed.

I tracked down the last article he penned for ESPN.com. This one was published last Tuesday, and has something to do with the NHL, "shotgun golf" and a strange telephone conversation with Bill Murray. Enjoy!

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?id=1992213

 blackcatpgh (52 posts)      Mon Feb-21-05 10:51 AM

Response to Reply #8

 29. end of the article

 HST signed off in that last article by saying "So long and mahalo."

i guess you could take that "so long" as a final goodbye. this is an extremely depressing day for a lot of people, myself included.

 DistressedAmerican  (1000+ posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 11:16 AM

Response to Reply #29

 35. I Guess You Are Right.

 Maybe it was. I Still Dont get it. Someone suggested that things in the world had finally gotten TOO UGLY for him. Ive always thought of him as having a pretty high tolerence for the crap the world serves up. Maybe, I was wrong...

 ixion  (1000+ posts)      Mon Feb-21-05 11:26 AM

Response to Reply #35

 38. actually, it was his low tolerance for ugliness that inspired him

 he told the truth about the so-called moral leaders because he couldnt stand the sight of them. He was a hypersensitive, and to us the world is a ugly, frustrating, demented place inhabited, by and large, with what are apparently reptillian creatures in human form.

 I remember seeing Thompson speak way back in 1989. The theme of his speech was that the First and Fourth Amendments were in danger because of rampant fascism brewing in the political sector.

As always, he was spot on.

DistressedAmerican  (1000+ posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 11:34 AM

Response to Reply #38

39. I think It Is That feature That Most Endears Many DUers To Him

 Most of us "get it" too. I find it totally depressing from time to time. Good news is that I live to gobsmack these fools myself. Keeps me going!

 Botany (894 posts)      Mon Feb-21-05 08:37 AM

7. The fall of Phnom Phen ......

 The water is off and the electricity is only hit and miss.....

I do have a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black and some ungodly

strong Thai stick ..... the Khmer rouge are 10 miles from the

city ..... it will be as strange night.

 I am not crazy. It is everybody else that has the problem

xmas74 (97 posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 08:44 AM

9. You made me laugh

you made me angry, outraged, disbelieving and then you finally made me want to do some about it.

You turned me on to new ideas and thoughts. You proved to me that there was a world outside of my Cleaver-like small town.

You also taught me how to take a downer, chug Wild Turkey and then take uppers (so that I wouldnt crash).

I learned how to speak my mind in an outrageous fashion and that it is more important to experience life than to sit and watch it pass.

Bless you. I never really met you, yet you taught me more than you will ever know.

 jandrok  (192 posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 08:46 AM

10. What the hell???

 Why? Theres only one explanation....the rat bastards finally wore you down to the point where a bullet looked better than sitting around and watching things slowly collapse. People just dont care anymore. You went out on YOUR terms, not theirs, and I can respect a man who will take matters into his own hands rather than be led off of the cliff.

I had just reread "Fear and Loathing on the Campaing Trail 72" back in the fall, when I felt that were several analogues to that presidential election and this one. You had the fire then, the insight, the willingness to into the belly of the beast. It was good to revisit you in your prime.

Godspeed, old man.

 Fucking rat bastards. Fuck!!

"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment." - Unknown

 Binka (41 posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 08:49 AM

11. My favorite HST quote

 "Ive always considered writing the most hateful kind of work. I suspect its a bit like fucking, which is only fun for amateurs. Old whores dont do much giggling."

Rest well dear friend.

mdmc  (1000+ posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 08:52 AM

Response to Reply #11

 12. rage, good doctor, rage...

 DistressedAmerican  (1000+ posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 08:58 AM

13. Just Remembered What Might Be The Perfect Epitaph For Dr. Gonzo!

 The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom." --William Blake

 Eagle_Eye (199 posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 09:00 AM

14. Fair winds and following seas Mr. Thompson. n/t

Jonny_Eagle

shadowknows69 (660 posts)      Mon Feb-21-05 10:52 AM

Response to Reply #14

30. I think Hunter would prefer

  Riding a tornado on top of a deluge.

Advisor: Sire the people are revolting!!! King: You bet...They stink on ice.

 KyndCulture (257 posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 09:10 AM

15. I feel like Ive lost a dear friend today...

 "In a nation of frightened dullards there is a shortage of outlaws."

My favorite HST quote...

 maholo my friend.

Progressive, Pissed Off and Provoked!

UTUSN (1000+ posts)     Mon Feb-21-05 09:37 AM

17. Wish He Were Here to KICK Matt PUDGEs Obnoxious Ass

 Last night on the radio PUDGE read the breaking news and then began hinting around that THOMPSONs groundbreaking was what led to PUDGE. It was disgusting.

 WilliamPitt  (1000+ posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 09:37 AM

18. Here you go

 http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/022105Z.shtml

FYI...

NOTE FROM DA: READ THIS!!!!!!

Howardx (816 posts)      Mon Feb-21-05 11:41 AM

Response to Reply #18

 40. this quote covers it for me

 "My hero died tonight. He was a flawed man, a maniac, in so many ways the antithesis of what a journalist is supposed to be. Worst of all, he told the truth. There is now one less warrior on this planet filled with Guckert clones, drones who get fed shit and regurgitate it wholesale for the masses because that is what we are trained to eat."

thanks will and thanks HST, the world is a smaller, uglier place with your passing.

Left Brain  (224 posts)      Mon Feb-21-05 12:47 PM

Response to Reply #1853. Moved me to tears, Will.

 Thanks for that heartfelt tribute.

tasteblind  (1000+ posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 09:41 AM

19. To the author of the best book about politics ever written...

 Thanks for your wit, your charm, your near complete lack of self-censorship, and your refusal to play by arbitrary rules.

The world is worse for your leaving, but better for your having been.

I can only hope that you are in a better place now.

Mahalo.

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." -Mahatma Gandhi

Goathead (1000+ posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 09:53 AM

21. You couldnt invent someone like Hunter S.Thompson

 He was a... he was one of a kind. He was a mutant. A real heavyweight water buffalo type... who could chew his way through a concrete wall and spit out the other side covered with lime and chalk and look good in doing it.

So long, Hunter.

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. -George Orwell

two gun sid  (527 posts)      Mon Feb-21-05 09:56 AM

22. He had more truth in him than any rat-bastard journalist....

 alive today.

ernstbass  (552 posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 09:58 AM

23. Thank you Mr. thompson

 for enriching my life over the past 30 years. And say hey to Sandra Dee when you see her.

CabalPowered  (71 posts)     Mon Feb-21-05 10:18 AM

24. Pass the ether

natrat (683 posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 10:36 AM

Response to Reply #24

26. and some adrenachrome :)

Bob3  (531 posts)     Mon Feb-21-05 10:54 AM

31. Good Bye Doc - You meant more to me than words can say

 You were brave and outraged and in a world where the cynics count the money and sycophants kiss butt you were an idealist. You truly believed in the fantastic possibilities of this place and what made you sooo angry was watching the waterheads shit in our own nest.

I will always treasure the first time I read Fear and Loathing in Lost Vegas - I wasnt the same after I finished that book. And the first thing I did was read it again. Mad Angry and funny oh god roll on the floor laughing funny.

You were not a traditional reporter who is trained to be neutral and non-judgmental and dispassionate. You had the bravery to FEEL down to the depths of you soul the horror, and to scream like a man caught in a mortar barrage: "God Damn this is madness! Look at these People these are fucking Monsters in Human skin! Cheap jack hustlers and pimps and waterheads, power junkies and crooks. Just look at them all! And they are running things! And someones been giving booze to the god damn things! And no one bats and eye!"

I suspect that the drinking and the drug use were part of an effort to deal with having emotions as deep as yours. It cant have been easy doc. Well miss you.

"We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take effect."

I will put on Bob Dylans Mister Tambourine man, wear a tacky shirt and drink Wild Turkey today.

RIP HST.

People with insect heads! People with insect heads!

tom_paine  (1000+ posts)      Mon Feb-21-05 10:54 AM

33. Thank you for everything, Hunter. For all you did for so many.

 To make us laugh, make us cry, and everything in between.

For all your words, fiction and non-fiction alike...who could tell where one ended and the other began with you?

Every words was amazing, insightful or fun...usually all three.

In some regards, I am glad you wont be around for what comes next.

Straight Shooter  (1000+ posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 11:00 AM

34. Hunter will live forever, a hexagonal peg in the round hole of journalism.

 I love his writing. Theres just something about the truth that pulls you in and doesnt let go.

 Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a mans character, give him power. (Abraham Lincoln)

DrGonzoLives  (1000+ posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 11:17 AM

36. One of Gods originals

 The last of the truly great American commentators are dying out, and the world is less of a place without him.

stubertmcfly  (166 posts)      Mon Feb-21-05 11:23 AM

37. my tribute...

050221

to my recollection, there have been only two times when i have vocally cried out "no" upon hearing of a person whom i had never mets death. the first was kurt cobain. today was the second. both were from self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

one of my literary heros is no more. hunter s. thompson was a genius. and fortunately for the world, his genius will live on through the words he so generously put to paper.

few authors have touched me as hunter did. he could take a tale and spin it in ways from which you were certain there was no escape. no way to bring that plane back under control before careening into the ground killing all aboard including the reader. then, as if from nowhere, clarity would descend, scoop up the wounded duck that was about to belly-flop into the abyss and something more profound, more sensible than anything ever before uttered would flow forth on the page in front of you and you would know that all was right in the world and that if something that beautiful could come from such chaos… well… i can only say that i was inspired. i was touched, awed, amazed that such clarity could come from such anarchy.

i suppose that i should be happy that hunter was able to go out on his own terms. i should feel grateful that he was generous enough to share himself with us for so many years. and i am. but i will miss him. though i never met him… i feel that i knew him a little bit. and somehow, he knew me.

"I wasnt so much worried as spooked. There was something eerie about the whole business, as if God in a fit of disgust had decided to wipe us all out. Our structure was collapsing; it seemed like just a few hours ago that I was having breakfast with Chenault in the sunny peace of my own home.Then I had ventured into the day, and plunged headlong into an orgy of murder and shrieking and breaking of glass. Now it was ending just as senselessly as it began. It was all over and I was very sure of it because Yeamon was leaving. There might be some noise after he left, but it would be orthodox noise, the kind a man can deal with and even ignore – instead of those sudden unnerving eruptions that suck you into them and toss you around like a toad in rough water."

Hunter S. Thompson, The Rum Diary

toeleven

tavalon  (1000+ posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 11:56 AM

41. Hunter

 Thank you for gracing us with your presence until you just couldnt put up with us anymore. The world is a little bit darker today and damn, the shrub sure didnt deserve to outlive you!

Its not 2004, its not even 1984, its 1934 and I am NOT a good German.

bettyellen  (1000+ posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 11:57 AM

42. i cant think of another person of his era that inspired so many people

 to question, and to be angry about what the hell was going on in this country.

we owe him a great debt for inspiring the many truthseekers among us who carry on.

" you tend to forget now and then that about half the people you meet live from one day to the next in a state of such fear and uncertainty that about half the time they honestly doubt their own sanity. These are not the kind of people who really need to get hung up on depressing political trips. They are not ready for it. Their boats are rocking so badly that all they want to do is get level long enough to think straight and avoid the next nightmare."

Luminous Animal (267 posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 11:59 AM

43. In his honor...

 This week I am using the name Raoul Duke to sign for all packages.

Welcome Michael Moore BB refugees: www.upsizethis.org

DrWeird  (1000+ posts)      Mon Feb-21-05 12:05 PM

44. There he goes. One of Gods own prototypes.

 A high powered mutant of some kind: too weird to live, and too rare to die.

Im a ninja in my Caddy.

twenty2strings (152 posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 12:09 PM

45. Now we must all turn pro...Cuz the goings gotten weird..N/T

Mr.Green93 (1000+ posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 12:16 PM

46. We will get the Bastards

 that did this to you.

peekaloo  (1000+ posts)      Mon Feb-21-05 12:21 PM

47. Dear Sir,

 As strange as it may seem, and possibly reckless and wrongheaded on my part, I used to read your stories to my nephew when he was a wee lad. Although I cleaned up the nasty parts (such as stabbing some guy in the nuts with a fork) most of it went right over his head yet it still provided the both of us with some quality, albeit perverse, family time.  To this day, hes now twenty, he still recalls the title to one of your short stories, "Showdown in the Pig Palace". We both smile and wink as his mother gives both of us the stink eye.

Wherever you are I wish you peace. You will be missed.

R.I.P.

Its high time the public realized we conservatives arent all Johnny-hatemongers and Charlie Bible-thumps, or even, God forbid, George Bushes." Sideshow Bob

burythehatchet  (1000+ posts)      Mon Feb-21-05 12:22 PM

48. What will become of Duke, made in your image Dr. Thompson

 presently serving as the viceroy of Al-Amok, Iraq.

He who knows he knows, doesnt know. He who knows he doesnt know, knows. -Joseph Campbell

Taxloss  (1000+ posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 12:25 PM

50. Rest in peace, you magnificent bastard.

 The world was too small for you.

If you consider the fact that we caused your revolution, the British have had a fairly positive effect on American politics.

Old and In the Way  (1000+ posts)      Mon Feb-21-05 12:33 PM

51. No one could twist a phrase like the Doctor....

 It took a brilliantly twisted mind to see and write about this world in the clarity that he could convey it. Anyone else see the irony here?

The world just got a little darker today.......

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." HST

Voted Democrat. Terrorists won. Social Security

librechik  (1000+ posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 12:37 PM

52. Yo, Duke! Save a place for me at the party

 Timothy Leary, Jimi, Janice, Jim and many others will all be there. The conversation and the music will be beyond description. But you could do it!

Love to the family & My deepest respect for this special man.

http://www.ralphsteadman.com/

slackmaster  (1000+ posts)      Mon Feb-21-05 01:04 PM

54. Thanks for some of the best advice ever

 "Dont mess with their religion!"

From The Curse of Lono

The surest way to make a monkey of a man is to quote him. - Robert Benchley

Midnight Rambler  (118 posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 01:24 PM

55. RIP Doctor

 I had always hoped that he would stick around to aid in the eventual and inevitable fall of the house of Bush. I guess the little bastard was just more than the Good Doctor could handle. Mahalo, Hunter.

TOOLZ (122 posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 01:45 PM

57. Fear & Loathing in the Blogosphere

 I wrote this late last night in my sorrow. Drunk.

EXCERPTED BY DA

Today is my 32nd Birthday. And a man little more than twice my age, who has been a profound influence on my life, has committed suicide.

Hunter S. Thompson, a writer whose debaucherous style of “gonzo journalism” I grew up relishing as a smart in-joke from a disenfranchised generation before me, was discovered with a gunshot wound to his head in his home in Aspen. I am struggling to explain why this has made me cry so much. In a dark period where no media figure will stand up to outrageous daily transgressions by the administration, we have lost the original crusader against the Republican agitprop glory hole.

Read more:

<www.toolz.blogs.com >

Swamp Rat  (1000+ posts)      Mon Feb-21-05 02:16 PM

Response to Reply #59

61. Yet he will live on,

 having woven into the fabric of our collective conscience the essence of his personality spawning countless "Hunters" ... many will take up the mantel... so, the question should be "how many heirs apparent?" - hopefully a lot.

Hows your head?  

JohnnyCougar  (1000+ posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 02:10 PM

60. Man, I never thought someone like Hunter could actually die.

 That guys perspective was one of a kind. He explained things at the animalistic level so well. He understood and accepted human nature as the volatile beast that it is...and yet made us feel proud of it.

"I was right in the middle of fucking reptile zoo...and somebody was giving booze to these goddamn animals....It wont be long now...before they tear us to shreds!" --HST

readmoreoften (441 posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 05:13 PM

63. You were one of the worlds singularities...

 The rarest of birds, a warrior, a truthseeker, and a world-maker.

Fuck resting in peace. Your heart was so mighty, youll kick ass even from the grave...

Dangerman (663 posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 06:30 PM

68. Isnt that the guy...

 Who said "Hitlers most foulest atrocities cant compare to the Abu Grahib prison scandal"?

ezekiel333 (449 posts)

69. "We were somewhere around Barstow..."

LittleClarkie  (1000+ posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 06:50 PM

73. God bless ye Dr. Thompson

I will miss your clear-headed-despite-all-the-substances take on American politics. Thank you for telling it how it was and speaking truth to power.

Your last piece in the Rolling Stone will turn out to have been prophetic, Im sure.

Rest in Peace, sir. The fear and loathing is over.

Sugar Smack (29 posts)       Mon Feb-21-05 07:27 PM

75. You changed me.

 You were fire, and you consumed us with your wit and your sensitivity. Just quoting you to strangers made people listen. I collected your phrases and labeled them "Hunterisms". I learned to write angry letters from your tutelage. Everybody should be like you: curious, sensitive, with a sense of humor, and fearless, so fearless. I love you. The thought of you crying tears me out of the frame. You wont cry any more. You are as beautiful as the best of all things. You cant come back, either. Thats what tears me up.

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