| abstract
| - Born: 18 July 1937, Louisville, Kentucky, USA.Died: 20 February 2005, Woody Creek, near Aspen, Colorado, USA.American journalist & author. A proverbial loose cannon in the world of writers, imbuing his work with manic first-person subjectivity, that would come to tag him the master of Gonzo journalism.He wrote one Dr. Gonzo into his most-known novel %22Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas%22, a trip to LA in every sense of the word. His world was one of uppers, downers, speed & guns - an attitude that stood him well when reporting the fall of Saigon. In %22Kingdom Of Fear%22 he describes how the police found a drug hoard and dynamite in a raid on Owl Farm, his 'fortified' home in Woody Creek.Thompson shot himself in the head at his home. His funeral was organized by friend [a268174]. His ashes were fired from a cannon, mounted upon a 153ft tower of Thompson's own design that was shaped like a 2-thumbed fist holding a peyote mushroom (a symbol now used for Gonzo work). The ceremony took place to [m62520] & [r1701403] and the launching of red, white, blue & green fireworks - all as part of his last wishes.
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| dbo:abstract
| - Hunter Stockton Thompson (July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005) was an American journalist and author, and the founder of the gonzo journalism movement. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, to a middle-class family, Thompson had a turbulent youth after the death of his father left the family in poverty. He was unable to formally finish high school as he was incarcerated for 60 days after abetting a robbery. He subsequently joined the United States Air Force before moving into journalism. He traveled frequently, including stints in California, Puerto Rico, and Brazil, before settling in Aspen, Colorado, in the early 1960s.Thompson became internationally known with the publication of Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (1967). For his research on the book he had spent a year living and riding with the Angels, experiencing their lives and hearing their stories first-hand. Previously a relatively conventional journalist, with the publication in 1970 of %22The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved%22 he became a counter cultural figure, with his own brand of New Journalism which he termed %22Gonzo%22, an experimental style of journalism where reporters involve themselves in the action to such a degree that they become central figures of their stories. The work he remains best known for, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream (1971), constitutes a rumination on the failure of the 1960s counterculture movement. It was first serialized in Rolling Stone, a magazine with which Thompson would be long associated, and was released as a film starring Johnny Depp and directed by Terry Gilliam in 1998.Politically minded, Thompson ran unsuccessfully for sheriff of Pitkin County, Colorado, in 1970, on the Freak Power ticket. He became well known for his inveterate hatred of Richard Nixon, whom he claimed represented %22that dark, venal, and incurably violent side of the American character%22 and whom he characterized in Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. Thompson's output notably declined from the mid-1970s, as he struggled with the consequences of fame, and he complained that he could no longer merely report on events as he was too easily recognized. He was also known for his lifelong use of alcohol and illegal drugs, his love of firearms, and his iconoclastic contempt for authoritarianism. He remarked: %22I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me.%22While suffering a bout of health problems, Thompson committed suicide at the age of 67. Per his wishes, his ashes were fired out of a cannon in a ceremony funded by his friend Johnny Depp and attended by a host of friends including then Senator John Kerry and Jack Nicholson. Hari Kunzru wrote that, %22the true voice of Thompson is revealed to be that of American moralist ... one who often makes himself ugly to expose the ugliness he sees around him.%22
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