static

static, interference, intervention, intervene, get involved so as to alter or hinder an action, white noise, snow, fuzz, fuzzy, Fuzzy, ME

Monday, February 21, 2005

Hunter Thompson

The father of Gonzo Journalism, Hunter Thompson was found Sunday after apparently committing suicide. Gonzo Journalism is an anarchic form of reporting/storytelling that is totally objective. The author inserts himself into the story and the truth is optional. He worked as a sportswriter through the 60's and a series of articles he wrote about the Hell's Angels became his first book, Hell's Angels but he became famous/notorious after Rolling Stone sent him to Las Vegas to report on a motorcycle race in 1972. The reports that he sent back had very little to do with the race itself and eventually became the best selling book, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. He later wrote Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail about the Nixon and McGovern campaigns in 1972. While Thompson was a contrarian, he despised Nixon and had nothing good to say about him. He lived in a remote area in Colorado, near Aspen, where he could do his own thing and fire his automatic weapons in his back yard when he wanted to. I discovered Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas about 20 years ago and was instantly drawn in. The man lived truly a life of excess and epitomized freedom. He has been called Tom Wolfe's opposite. While Tom Wolfe reported on American culture like Thompson, Wolfe kept himself removed while Thompson thrust himself in. He will be missed.

Music: Clang Boom - Tom Waits
Book: Last Call - Laura Pederson
Iraq: February - 42
Total - 1482

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