We'll chase them like rats across the tundra

September 16, 2015 11:07 AM

Here's Hunter S. Thompson in the 80s, a post on Rants, Ravings, Gibberish & Jabs. And here's an encode of a rare VHS video of Dr. Thompson at this time in his life, "The Crazy Never Die." (31m, NSFW for a little full nudity.) And here's video of a commercial for Dr. Thompson writing for the San Francisco Examiner.
posted by JHarris (13 comments total)

And here's his daily diet.
posted by allkindsoftime at 11:35 AM on September 16, 2015 [5 favorites]

And here's his daily diet.

I don't know, that's an awful lot of orange juice over a day. I'm a little concerned about his fructose intake
posted by C.A.S. at 12:37 PM on September 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

I remember when HST took the writing job at the SF Examiner. At the time, he also claimed to be working as a night manager at the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theater, a venue he described as "the Carnegie Hall of public sex in America."
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 12:59 PM on September 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

At the time, he also claimed to be working as a night manager at the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theater, a venue he described as "the Carnegie Hall of public sex in America."

According to the link it's because he was supposed to write an article about it, and then it was supposed to be the basis for a book.

Kind of wish he was around for the 2016 presidential campaign.
posted by drezdn at 1:17 PM on September 16, 2015

That's pretty much what the linked blog post and video are about.
posted by JHarris at 1:17 PM on September 16, 2015

It must have been depressing as hell for contemporaneous friends and fans of Thompson's to watch as his faculties rapidly deteriorated at such a young age.
posted by item

Flip that around and imagine what it must have been like for Thompson to know that he'd peaked in 1972 and it was nowhere but down from there, with occasional flashes of good-but-not-quite-as-good brilliance here and there to make it sting a little more.

He's his own kind of tragic.
posted by the phlegmatic king at 1:27 PM on September 16, 2015 [5 favorites]

Well, I saw Thompson, there in the last years, when he was hanging with Johnny Depp, before they made the movie. He came back to Louisville, and they had a big ceremony, and gave him the key to the city and all that. I was supposed to interview him, but he was busy chasing young girls, and squirting people with a fire extinguisher. Only he wasn't moving too fast, if you know what I mean.

Yeah, it was depressing. You hate to see your heroes up close, because they lose that super-human quality that comes from the writing, and become regular-humans with all the foibles.

I grew up just down the street from where HST was born, there in the Highlands, in Louisville. Thompson was proof that you didn't have to stay in Louisville, and I'll always be in debt to him for that. But, like I've said before, if you live long enough, and stay famous, you become a parody of yourself. I would like to say I was devastated when I heard what happened in the end, but really, it seemed to fit, as of a piece. He wanted to be a Hemingway, I think.

Still, if you haven't read the other stuff, like Hell's Angels, and his political shit (Campaign Trail), and the essays (Shark Hunt) you're missing out. He was a lot bigger than Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas. He stomped on the terra, to steal a phrase.
posted by valkane at 2:23 PM on September 16, 2015 [13 favorites]

He was, and still is a great American, who made considerably more than liberal use of personal and intellectual freedom. He is someone who showed me the possibility I could be free. I never pass Barstow without smiling.
posted by Oyéah at 3:41 PM on September 16, 2015 [7 favorites]

I just hope you don't stop there...
posted by Windopaene at 3:44 PM on September 16, 2015

Pick up a copy of The Proud Highway - you can generally find it pretty cheap. This is a collection of HST's letters, dating mostly from the 1970s when he was at the peak of his powers, and they're fucking hilarious. Valkane's spot-on with his other recommendations, though I might throw in Curse of Lono too.
posted by Paul Slade at 4:06 PM on September 16, 2015 [5 favorites]

Sometimes I wonder if it was really his own declining powers that hurt the most, or all of the bad wannabes.
posted by Halloween Jack at 4:06 PM on September 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

Pick up a copy of The Proud Highway - you can generally find it pretty cheap. This is a collection of HST's letters, dating mostly from the 1970s when he was at the peak of his powers, and they're fucking hilarious.

God, yeah. I think that's my favorite of his books.
posted by the phlegmatic king at 4:43 PM on September 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

CORRECTION: The Proud Highway (good as it is) actually contains earlier letters. The mostly-1970s volume I had in mind is Fear & Loathing in America. Apologies.
posted by Paul Slade at 5:08 PM on September 16, 2015 [1 favorite]