# Hunter S. Thompson is dead, says son. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 21, 2005, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-s-thompson-is-dead-says-son/291118 "2005-02-21T04:16:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-s-thompson-is-dead-says-son/291118/1 "2005-02-21T04:16:13Z")
Drudge is reporting that he killed himself. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-s-thompson-is-dead-says-son/291118/2 "2005-02-21T04:18:51Z")
[Confirmed here.](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=518039) ---
**Author:** ![malkavia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malkavia/32/5621_2.png) [@malkavia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malkavia)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-s-thompson-is-dead-says-son/291118/3 "2005-02-21T04:19:59Z")
Oh my god. I’m completely in shock. =( ---
**Author:** ![scott\_evil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@scott\_evil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scott_evil)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-s-thompson-is-dead-says-son/291118/4 "2005-02-21T04:24:12Z")
_We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers… Also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls._ There will never be another. ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-s-thompson-is-dead-says-son/291118/5 "2005-02-21T04:24:24Z")
Crap. ---
**Author:** ![Peyton\_Farquhar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Peyton\_Farquhar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peyton_Farquhar)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-s-thompson-is-dead-says-son/291118/6 "2005-02-21T04:28:12Z")
There will never be a gonzoer journalist. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-s-thompson-is-dead-says-son/291118/7 "2005-02-21T04:29:09Z")
This is the end of an era. Shit. Pass the ether. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-s-thompson-is-dead-says-son/291118/8 "2005-02-21T04:33:05Z")
Uncle Duke…He dead.\* He was one of the great, improbable survivors, in the league with the likes of Keith Richards. I wonder if the Muppets character “The Great Gonzo” was in any way an offhanded tribute to him? \*HST wrote a book titled Mistah Leary…He Dead. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-s-thompson-is-dead-says-son/291118/9 "2005-02-21T04:37:54Z")
Wow. I’m gonna pour a big shot of gin and down it in his memory. ☹ World’s just not gonna be the same without him. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-s-thompson-is-dead-says-son/291118/10 "2005-02-21T04:43:47Z")
Damn. Man wrote the best book on what it was like to be on campaign ever. What politics meant. On what the beast was, and how it fed. Man was a man. Man was righteous. ---
**Author:** ![Lux\_Fiat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc79bd/32.png) [@Lux\_Fiat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lux_Fiat)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-s-thompson-is-dead-says-son/291118/11 "2005-02-21T04:45:00Z")
I don’t know why having heard about this would affect me as much as it has. I’ve only read a couple of his books and some of his essays. I guess I never thought he could be gotten to. I always thought he’d win, even if just by surviving. Man, this is awful news. ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-s-thompson-is-dead-says-son/291118/12 "2005-02-21T04:46:06Z")
Damn. I’m not at all shocked, but … damn. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-s-thompson-is-dead-says-son/291118/13 "2005-02-21T04:50:02Z")
I can picture HST and Oscar Acosta rampaging around heaven, looking for a place to rent a huge-ass Red Convertable. “OF Course the gentleman has a major credit card! Who do you think you’re talking to?” The Thing speaks for Itself. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-s-thompson-is-dead-says-son/291118/14 "2005-02-21T04:50:35Z")
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-s-thompson-is-dead-says-son/291118/15 "2005-02-21T04:50:39Z")
What will Gary Trudeau do with Uncle Duke now? What amazes me is that he managed to live to be 67 given the amount of abuse he inflicted on his body. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-s-thompson-is-dead-says-son/291118/16 "2005-02-21T05:00:47Z")
After the initial OMG and “Is this true…is it verified?” my first reaction was, “Well, in a way it’s good that Warren Zevon’s already dead.” (Zevon and HST were pals. and I’m sure had the order of passing been reversed, WZ would have taken it pretty hard.) > [@The Scrivener](#): > > I wonder if the Muppets character “The Great Gonzo” was in any way an offhanded tribute to him? The name might have been an homage (I wouldn’t be surprised to find that Henson and Oz had held him in high esteem), but the character was sweet and humble in a way no none would associate with HST! Godspeed, Gonzo. Watch out for bats. ---
**Author:** ![JoeSki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b487fb/32.png) [@JoeSki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeSki)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-s-thompson-is-dead-says-son/291118/17 "2005-02-21T05:02:18Z")
_sigh_ Man, and only months after he had established himself as one of my favorite authors. I recently bought the Critereon Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas DVD primarily for it’s special features, which includes a commentary of Hunter during the movie. Well worth the money imo, and the movie has grown on me too. The world is going to be a little more boring without The Good Doctor, and all dreams I had of ever meeting this guy or even paying to hear him speak have just been blown out the window. This is eerily similiar to Douglas Adams death which also took place just months after he established himself as a favorite writer. I guess I better stop reading PRatchett while I’m ahead…perhaps reading Chandler might bring some great, yet foul and rotting, things our way… ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-s-thompson-is-dead-says-son/291118/18 "2005-02-21T05:02:53Z")
The amount of drugs and alcohol that man played with, and in the end it was suicide that got him. This is a sad day, indeed. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-s-thompson-is-dead-says-son/291118/19 "2005-02-21T05:06:29Z")
I wonder what caused it. He was pissed off by the election a couple months back, but 4 months seems a bit of a while to decide on killing youself. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-s-thompson-is-dead-says-son/291118/20 "2005-02-21T05:09:11Z")
:eek: Good. Lord. In a way, I hope it was an accident. My brother saw him a few months ago and he certainly was a shambling wreck of a man, surrounded by buxom enabl–er–assistants. But suicidal despair? Not gonzo. Loved his books, at least the parts I can understand. Now, knowing his end, they’ll be…tainted somehow. ☹ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-s-thompson-is-dead-says-son/291118.md?page=2)