According to this story in the Los Angeles Times, Hunter S. Thompson died Sunday night of a single gunshot wound to the head. The Sheriff’s department is calling it a suicide.
Hard to know what to say. I discovered Hunter when I was in high school in the early 80’s. I remember seeing him “perform” (if that’s the right term) when I was working at a theater in Sommerville Mass in the early 90’s. His flaws–I think–are pretty well known so I won’t dwell on them here (although anyone else is welcome to). I thought his writing–particularly Hells Angels, the pieces collected in the Great Shark Hunt, and of course Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 1972–was first and foremost, incredibly funny.
Not that I knew him or anything, but I’m honestly surprised he made it this long.