Hunter S. Thompson’s first book was called, “Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs” and it was published by Random House in 1966. After that he did freelance writing for various magazines including: The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Pageant, Harper's and Scanlon’s Monthly. One piece he wrote for Scanlon’s was called, “The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved.” This is the article that was first described as, “Gonzo.” It was a tag that stuck to Hunter Thompson for the rest of his writing career. In 1970 he started writing for Rolling Stone and ended up being a contributing writer for years. A year later in 1971, his story, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" was published as a two part feature in Rolling Stone. In 1972 it came out in book form and is probably the best known of all of Hunter S. Thompson’s work. In 1998 a movie adapted from the book came out and it was directed by Terry Gilliam. On February 20, 2005, Thompson shot himself in the head and promptly died.
Hunter Thompson And An Angel From Hell
I’ve always felt that Hunter Thompson’s best work was his first book about the Hell’s Angels that was published in 1966. Thompson hung out with the motorcycle gang for about a year and wrote about that tumultuous time in his life in a book titled, “Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs”. The Angels always felt burned by him because he promised them two kegs of beer and books for the whole biker gang when it came out and he didn’t make good on his end of the bargain. This clip shows him on a TV show in the ‘60’s being confronted by one of the angry Hell’s Angels. Look for singer Joan Baez in the crowd at the 4.22 mark.
Hunter S. Thompson Runs For Sheriff Of Pitkin County in Aspen, Colorado
Hunter Thompson’s first feature story for Rolling Stone was about running for Sheriff in the town of Pitkin County in Aspen, Colorado in 1970. This is a 25 minute documentary about his run for sheriff. This is back when people still had hope in their hearts that things could change in our society.
Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas: The High Water Mark Passage
“Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas” is Hunter S. Thompson’s best known piece of writing. A lot of his writing was about the death of the American dream. It's been written that the section in the book that’s come to be known as “the high water mark passage” sums up his thoughts about the death of both the American dream and the end of the spirit of the ‘60’s. For me the last two paragraphs are the most powerful.
“And that, I think, was the handle—that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting—on our side or theirs. 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—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”
This is Johnny Depp portraying Hunter S. Thompson in the movie version of the book reading this passage.
Juan Thompson Talks About The Last Night Of Hunter Thompson’s Life
Hunter Thompson’s son talks about the night that his dad killed himself. He was there in Thompson’s Woody Creek cabin when his dad took a gun and shot himself in the head. Here he is talking about Hunter S. Thompson’s last night.
Links To Hunter S. Thompson On The Interwebs
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