Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson

[CJFusco]

[VaSteve]

Looks like they left the word Coward out of that promo.

[Dottore]

HST was one of the greats.

[CJFusco]

Originally Posted by VaSteve

Looks like they left the word Coward out of that promo.

Coward? Please explain. It seems to me that he took on pretty much every challenge ever faced to him with a gung-ho attitude.

[VaSteve]

Originally Posted by CJFusco

Coward? Please explain. It seems to me that he took on pretty much every challenge ever faced to him with a gung-ho attitude.

Gung-ho right there:

Thompson died at his self-described "fortified compound" known as "Owl Farm" in Woody Creek, Colorado, at 5:42 p.m. on February 20, 2005, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Thompson's son (Juan), daughter-in-law (Jennifer Winkel Thompson) and grandson (Will Thompson) were visiting for the weekend at the time of his suicide. Will and Jennifer were in the adjacent room when they heard the gunshot. Mistaking the shot for the sound of a book falling, they continued with their activities for a few minutes before checking on him. Thompson was sitting at his typewriter with the word "counselor" written in the center of the page.[27]

They reported to the press that they do not believe his suicide was out of desperation, but was a well-thought out act resulting from Thompson's many painful medical conditions. Thompson's wife, Anita, who was at a gym at the time of her husband's death, was on the phone with him when he ended his life.

[CJFusco]

Oh, i see what you're saying. I'm not going to debate the moral implications of suicide on a Porsche forum, but I do see what you're saying. Other than debates over his suicide, however, I doubt there were many other moments of cowardice in that man's life.

[Jims5543]

This thread could easily go for pages over suicide and whether or not its a cowardly act. In some instances I would agree with you but, in others I would disagree. In HST's case it seems all he had to look forward to was pain and more pain.

I compare that to what I just saw in my wifes grandfather and his passing away 2 weeks ago, the man was ready to go 1 year ago and as of about 3 months ago was beginning to show signs he would no longer be able to take a dump and wipe his own @ss anymore, and for a man like him to be degraded to that level was unacceptable.

He basically committed suicide as well, he could have called an ambulance and been raced to the hospital for the 3rd time in 5 months and had his lungs pumped and whatever else they were doing to kick start him again. Instead he decided enough was enough, he was basically suffocating to death, he asked for the morphine the docs had prescribed him and drifted off for good.

Hunter chose a more colorful route with a gun, he kind of liked guns. I just hoped he was decent enough to use a .22 and not make a big mess but I suspect that might not be his style.

[notfarnow]

HST is one of my favorites.

Anyone else read "The Proud Highway"? Took a while to chew through, but really gave an insight to how he developed and thrived. Some funny stuff in there.

As for his suicide, some of the details may seem "off" to me (family being in the house, for example) but I refuse to judge someone for that. Authors, more than anyone else, are fussy about the details of the final chapter.

[bell]

to weird to live, to rare to die.......

he told a story in "kingdom of fear" of ducati sending him one of their new bikes for him to test and review years ago and how he almost killed himself on it as it......

[CJFusco]

^^There is a similar story about Hunter road testing the then-new Porsche 911 Carrera 4 (the 1989 964 model). He liked the car so much that he bought one shortly thereafter.

[svandamme]

anybody who ate lsd and mescaline and then some with his kind of set, in the settings he ate it, is definitely not a coward, feel free to try it yourself, if you dare