The Note
March 4, 2005 5:42 AM Subscribe
Hunter S Thompson's Last Word? the author's body was found in a chair by his kitchen table, on which a typewriter had been placed and a page of writing paper had been lined up with the a single word typed at its centre.
This post was deleted for the following reason: posted yesterday
Yes, it was cited in the article, but it would've been so much cooler than what he actually wrote.
posted by DaShiv at 5:48 AM on March 4, 2005
posted by DaShiv at 5:48 AM on March 4, 2005
My guess is that it was a code to alert someone of a plan that they had devised prior to his death. Like if he was murdered, he would write 'counselor'. If he killed himself, he would have wrote 'las vegas'.
posted by mic stand at 5:54 AM on March 4, 2005
posted by mic stand at 5:54 AM on March 4, 2005
eskimo
posted by sourwookie at 5:54 AM on March 4, 2005
posted by sourwookie at 5:54 AM on March 4, 2005
mic stand:
So he would have time to set up a typewriter and deploy the code word in the event of his murder?
Perhaps a directive, yes, but instead to initiate a grander plan among his covert allies ... and we probably won't read of the outcome in the mass media! Keep an eye on Bill Murray in the next 100 days. *smirk*
posted by BlackPebble at 6:08 AM on March 4, 2005
So he would have time to set up a typewriter and deploy the code word in the event of his murder?
Perhaps a directive, yes, but instead to initiate a grander plan among his covert allies ... and we probably won't read of the outcome in the mass media! Keep an eye on Bill Murray in the next 100 days. *smirk*
posted by BlackPebble at 6:08 AM on March 4, 2005
no beer and no tv make hunter go crazy
posted by AccordionGuy at 6:11 AM on March 4, 2005
posted by AccordionGuy at 6:11 AM on March 4, 2005
I agree with mic stand. Duke had obviously found proof that the Bush Administration was behind the 9/11 attacks, allowing them carte blanche to restructure the Middle East for fun and profit in the inevitable ensuing "War Against Terror."
C'mon, you know Roosevelt had advance warning on Pearl harbor too, don't you?
Somewhere an agent of Gonzo has received secret orders, in the form of the word "counselor," to open up a safe full of documents containing the almighty Über-Dirt Thompson has collected on Geo W, but also the primo inside stories he's been saving on everyone since his career began (just in case he ever needed to engage in a little retaliatory gratuitous blackmail.)
The CIA and FBI and several groups we've never heard of (and never will) are in a mad race against time to find Duke's agent and this Pandora's Box information cache before it's too late.
Right. You think I'm kidding, don't you?
posted by Shane at 6:18 AM on March 4, 2005
C'mon, you know Roosevelt had advance warning on Pearl harbor too, don't you?
Somewhere an agent of Gonzo has received secret orders, in the form of the word "counselor," to open up a safe full of documents containing the almighty Über-Dirt Thompson has collected on Geo W, but also the primo inside stories he's been saving on everyone since his career began (just in case he ever needed to engage in a little retaliatory gratuitous blackmail.)
The CIA and FBI and several groups we've never heard of (and never will) are in a mad race against time to find Duke's agent and this Pandora's Box information cache before it's too late.
Right. You think I'm kidding, don't you?
posted by Shane at 6:18 AM on March 4, 2005
Personally, I would have begun typing out my final message and then committed suicide in such a way that my head pitched forward and hit the keyboard;
FREEMASONS RUN THE COUN58.,ouy9877 bn
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:23 AM on March 4, 2005
FREEMASONS RUN THE COUN58.,ouy9877 bn
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:23 AM on March 4, 2005
This is the primo dirt on everyone, you understand... the stuff that would have got Thompson hunted down, skewered and roasted like a wild boar had it been leaked when he was alive...
If it doesn't show up in the press soon, you'll know I was right, and poor Duke's agent died a slow hard death at the hands of our gov't.
posted by Shane at 6:24 AM on March 4, 2005
If it doesn't show up in the press soon, you'll know I was right, and poor Duke's agent died a slow hard death at the hands of our gov't.
posted by Shane at 6:24 AM on March 4, 2005
Verisimilitude: Ack - you managed to fool me by having two links in your fpp going to the same place. I thought I'd gone mad for a moment...
posted by Chunder at 6:48 AM on March 4, 2005
posted by Chunder at 6:48 AM on March 4, 2005
The police report describes how his son, Juan Thompson, walked outside the house after discovering the body and fired three shotgun blasts into the air, later saying he had done it to "mark the passing of his father".
this is just how i would react.
especially if i needed to explain the sound of a shotgun going off moments earlier.
posted by three blind mice at 6:50 AM on March 4, 2005
this is just how i would react.
especially if i needed to explain the sound of a shotgun going off moments earlier.
posted by three blind mice at 6:50 AM on March 4, 2005
three blind mice,
Not for nothing, but I think the time where one would have to explain the sounds of gunfire at HST's house was passed long, long ago.
I want my last word to be somthing profound, but in all likelyhood I'll fuck it up and it'll be "mudflap", so to avert scratching heads, future wino biographers, 'twas inanity nae profundity.
I ain't above a good conspiracy but the beady-eyed sweater vested dandruffy crowd is really reaching these days. It used to be "the CIA, the Mafia and LBG killed Kennedy" and now it's "Does this milk smell off?... 'Cause Big Dairy knows I've spoken out against 2% in the past..."
posted by Divine_Wino at 7:02 AM on March 4, 2005
Not for nothing, but I think the time where one would have to explain the sounds of gunfire at HST's house was passed long, long ago.
I want my last word to be somthing profound, but in all likelyhood I'll fuck it up and it'll be "mudflap", so to avert scratching heads, future wino biographers, 'twas inanity nae profundity.
I ain't above a good conspiracy but the beady-eyed sweater vested dandruffy crowd is really reaching these days. It used to be "the CIA, the Mafia and LBG killed Kennedy" and now it's "Does this milk smell off?... 'Cause Big Dairy knows I've spoken out against 2% in the past..."
posted by Divine_Wino at 7:02 AM on March 4, 2005
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and suggest that the word was some sort of a prayer before dying. And let it be made known now that I'm not coming from a Christianity-boosting perspective, but like any properly trained former English major, when faced with an inexplicable allusion, I turn first to the King James.
Since the day of his death, I have been thinking about all the Biblical references in HST's writing. And so have others. Here's a nice, quick take on it in The Revealer. In its official obit, Washington Post said this:
Among the writers and works he cited as major influences were most of the classic American authors, including Mark Twain and Ernest Hemingway, many or most read early in life. He also named the Biblical book of Revelation.
And finally, there's some great work in this essay on Thompson's writing found in a Penn English syllabus,which I stumbled across in my memorial Googling.
Apocalyptic religious motifs resonate through Hunter Thompson's literary corpus, a more recent manifestation introducing Generation of Swine: Tales of Shame and Degradation in the '80s:
"I have stolen more quotes and thoughts and purely elegant little starbursts of writing from the Book of Revelation than anything else in the English language.. . because l love the wild power of the language and the purity of the madness that governs it and makes it music. (1988, 9)"
The "fearful intensity" of Revelation, "a thunderhead mix of Bolero, Sam Coleridge and the ravings of Cato the Elder," Thompson wrote, is an inspirational "litany of doomsday gibberish" (1988, 36).
Language and madness--these terms signify Thompson's secularized style of literary prophecy. Like biblical prophecy, Thompson's reportage takes the form of volatile denunciatory literary jeremiads, challenging and reproving conventional morality, politics, and culture. "Most smart people tend to feel queasy when the conversation turns to things like 'certain death' and 'total failure' and the idea of a 'doomed generation,'" Thompson proclaimed. "But not me" (1988, 299). "I am comfortable with these themes.... Any conversation that can make smart people confront a mix of Death, Doom and Failure with a straight face is probably worth listening in on" (1988,299). His Gonzo-style reporting in six books and other "major statements of our time" constitutes the "ravings" of a postmodern Jeremiah whose prophetic narrative discourse ranks him as the most brilliantly outspoken moralist to practice New Journalism.
So it might not be crazy to suggest that HST was referring to Isaiah 9:6:
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
...And that perhaps he was attempting to indiciate that he believed that there may exist a governing power, and a justice, far greater than W's.
It's a ripe field for inquiry, and I'm so thankful he left us with a puzzle. It seemed nuts at first that there was no note...this is better than a note. In fact, if I had the day off today, I might try to follow this trail further -- take the concordance and look through the Bible for other mentions of the word 'counselor,' see if any of those might have parallels to HST's life, self-image, or role in culture and politics. I'll leave it for some other English major to do.
I close with this:
Playboy: What will you do? Do you have any projects on the fire other than the political stuff?
Thompson: Well, I think I may devote more time to my ministry, for one thing. All the hellish running around after politicians has taken great amounts of time from my responsibilities as a clergyman.
Playboy: You're not a real minister, are you?
Thompson: What? Of course I am. I'm an ordained doctor of divinity in the Church of the New Truth. l have a scroll with a big gold seal on it hanging on my wall at home. (1974, 246)
posted by Miko at 7:07 AM on March 4, 2005
Since the day of his death, I have been thinking about all the Biblical references in HST's writing. And so have others. Here's a nice, quick take on it in The Revealer. In its official obit, Washington Post said this:
Among the writers and works he cited as major influences were most of the classic American authors, including Mark Twain and Ernest Hemingway, many or most read early in life. He also named the Biblical book of Revelation.
And finally, there's some great work in this essay on Thompson's writing found in a Penn English syllabus,which I stumbled across in my memorial Googling.
Apocalyptic religious motifs resonate through Hunter Thompson's literary corpus, a more recent manifestation introducing Generation of Swine: Tales of Shame and Degradation in the '80s:
"I have stolen more quotes and thoughts and purely elegant little starbursts of writing from the Book of Revelation than anything else in the English language.. . because l love the wild power of the language and the purity of the madness that governs it and makes it music. (1988, 9)"
The "fearful intensity" of Revelation, "a thunderhead mix of Bolero, Sam Coleridge and the ravings of Cato the Elder," Thompson wrote, is an inspirational "litany of doomsday gibberish" (1988, 36).
Language and madness--these terms signify Thompson's secularized style of literary prophecy. Like biblical prophecy, Thompson's reportage takes the form of volatile denunciatory literary jeremiads, challenging and reproving conventional morality, politics, and culture. "Most smart people tend to feel queasy when the conversation turns to things like 'certain death' and 'total failure' and the idea of a 'doomed generation,'" Thompson proclaimed. "But not me" (1988, 299). "I am comfortable with these themes.... Any conversation that can make smart people confront a mix of Death, Doom and Failure with a straight face is probably worth listening in on" (1988,299). His Gonzo-style reporting in six books and other "major statements of our time" constitutes the "ravings" of a postmodern Jeremiah whose prophetic narrative discourse ranks him as the most brilliantly outspoken moralist to practice New Journalism.
So it might not be crazy to suggest that HST was referring to Isaiah 9:6:
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
...And that perhaps he was attempting to indiciate that he believed that there may exist a governing power, and a justice, far greater than W's.
It's a ripe field for inquiry, and I'm so thankful he left us with a puzzle. It seemed nuts at first that there was no note...this is better than a note. In fact, if I had the day off today, I might try to follow this trail further -- take the concordance and look through the Bible for other mentions of the word 'counselor,' see if any of those might have parallels to HST's life, self-image, or role in culture and politics. I'll leave it for some other English major to do.
I close with this:
Playboy: What will you do? Do you have any projects on the fire other than the political stuff?
Thompson: Well, I think I may devote more time to my ministry, for one thing. All the hellish running around after politicians has taken great amounts of time from my responsibilities as a clergyman.
Playboy: You're not a real minister, are you?
Thompson: What? Of course I am. I'm an ordained doctor of divinity in the Church of the New Truth. l have a scroll with a big gold seal on it hanging on my wall at home. (1974, 246)
posted by Miko at 7:07 AM on March 4, 2005
....or maybe he was just out of his f*ing head.
The more I read that story, though, the more disturbing. The son at the scene, firing shots to commemorate his dad...? Hmmm. The Fourth Estate Foundation? OK, but obviously it wasn't "the beginning of a letter addressed to a lawyer" if the word was truly at the "centre" of the paper.
Well, he done good in choosing a word with multiple interpretations, political, personal, and moral. I'd have expected no less.
posted by Miko at 7:20 AM on March 4, 2005
The more I read that story, though, the more disturbing. The son at the scene, firing shots to commemorate his dad...? Hmmm. The Fourth Estate Foundation? OK, but obviously it wasn't "the beginning of a letter addressed to a lawyer" if the word was truly at the "centre" of the paper.
Well, he done good in choosing a word with multiple interpretations, political, personal, and moral. I'd have expected no less.
posted by Miko at 7:20 AM on March 4, 2005
Kennedy was about to switch the entire US Army to non-dairy creamer, everybody knows that. Open your eyes, man, OPEN YOUR EYEEEEEZZZ!
posted by Divine_Wino at 7:24 AM on March 4, 2005
posted by Divine_Wino at 7:24 AM on March 4, 2005
OMG, I figured it out!
Cheney
ordered
United
ninety-three
shot;
exterminates
leftist
operatives
remotely
Can somebody call CNN for me?
posted by soyjoy at 7:28 AM on March 4, 2005
Cheney
ordered
United
ninety-three
shot;
exterminates
leftist
operatives
remotely
Can somebody call CNN for me?
posted by soyjoy at 7:28 AM on March 4, 2005
I pretty much figured there was some connection to civil liberties. If you care much about civil liberties, it's not a happy time, at all.
I don't think this article was putting forth a conspiracy theory, by the way, so I don't find the talk amusing, and I'm usually game for almost anything.
posted by raysmj at 7:32 AM on March 4, 2005
I don't think this article was putting forth a conspiracy theory, by the way, so I don't find the talk amusing, and I'm usually game for almost anything.
posted by raysmj at 7:32 AM on March 4, 2005
I'm trying but the cheeto dust is making my fingers slippery.
posted by Divine_Wino at 7:32 AM on March 4, 2005
posted by Divine_Wino at 7:32 AM on March 4, 2005
The Fourth Estate Foundation
Fourth Amendment Foundation, you idgit.
posted by angry modem at 7:37 AM on March 4, 2005
Fourth Amendment Foundation, you idgit.
posted by angry modem at 7:37 AM on March 4, 2005
I'm so glad you found something you could pick at. You must feel very proud of yourself.
Since he was a member of the Fourth Estate concerned with the Fourth Amendment, the ideas achieve a nice harmony anyway.
posted by Miko at 7:38 AM on March 4, 2005
Since he was a member of the Fourth Estate concerned with the Fourth Amendment, the ideas achieve a nice harmony anyway.
posted by Miko at 7:38 AM on March 4, 2005
Counselor? I think that's what Max Cady always used in Cape Fear. And Robert Mitchum was busted for drugs. And Juliette Lewis did way too many drugs too. And Nick Nolte for that matter.
Since I don't know where else to put it, here's a collection of early Duke Doonesbury comics.
posted by Arch Stanton at 7:46 AM on March 4, 2005
Since I don't know where else to put it, here's a collection of early Duke Doonesbury comics.
posted by Arch Stanton at 7:46 AM on March 4, 2005
OK. Good. It's a massive thread derailment there, connected to an earlier, stupid thread. I think the man's death was an honorable one, frankly, if it was a self-immolation connected to despair regarding the political morality of the country he loved and called home. I say this even given some amusement over the three-shot salute thing that sounded like something straight of "The Royal Tenenbaums" or something.
posted by raysmj at 7:49 AM on March 4, 2005
posted by raysmj at 7:49 AM on March 4, 2005
Obviously, Hunter wanted us to anagram "counselor" to solve the mystery!
OUR CLONES: Maybe there were several Hunter Thompsons, and this was just one of them.
COOLER SUN: Did Hunter hold the key to ending global warming?
ULCER SOON: Who wants to live when you can't enjoy salsa?
CLUE, SON -- OR: Did his son do it? The trail of clues start in Oregon!
CENSOR LOU: Lou Dobbs' yammering finally became too much.
COOL NURSE: He was just trying to wound himself so he could visit his favorite candy striper. Oops.
My favorite, and the most apt: NO CLOSURE
posted by notmydesk at 7:51 AM on March 4, 2005
OUR CLONES: Maybe there were several Hunter Thompsons, and this was just one of them.
COOLER SUN: Did Hunter hold the key to ending global warming?
ULCER SOON: Who wants to live when you can't enjoy salsa?
CLUE, SON -- OR: Did his son do it? The trail of clues start in Oregon!
CENSOR LOU: Lou Dobbs' yammering finally became too much.
COOL NURSE: He was just trying to wound himself so he could visit his favorite candy striper. Oops.
My favorite, and the most apt: NO CLOSURE
posted by notmydesk at 7:51 AM on March 4, 2005
No one in the movie ever finds out what "Rosebud" means.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 7:52 AM on March 4, 2005
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 7:52 AM on March 4, 2005
The mystery is not the word "counselor." The mystery is that no one could read the fnords that covered the remainder of the page.
posted by Scooter at 8:00 AM on March 4, 2005
posted by Scooter at 8:00 AM on March 4, 2005
notmydesk, you are sadly mistaken, and are misleading the rest of MeFi with your baseless, wrongheaded interpretation! HST did not want us to see an anagram, but rather, an acronym!
Hold up the acronym, as he has commanded us!
posted by soyjoy at 8:03 AM on March 4, 2005
Hold up the acronym, as he has commanded us!
posted by soyjoy at 8:03 AM on March 4, 2005
CLERK
What confused us was Dr. Gonzo's
signature on the telegram from Los
Angeles. When we knew he was right
here in the hotel.
DUKE
You did the right thing. Never try
to understand a press message.
About half the time we use codes --
especially with Dr. Gonzo.
CLERK
But he will be available? Perhaps
later this morning?
DUKE
Look. That telegram was all
scrambled. It was actually from
Thompson, not to him. Western
Union must have gotten the names
reversed. I have to get going. I
have to get out to the track.
CLERK
There's no hurry! The race is over!
DUKE
(taking off)
Not for me.
posted by apis mellifera at 8:04 AM on March 4, 2005
What confused us was Dr. Gonzo's
signature on the telegram from Los
Angeles. When we knew he was right
here in the hotel.
DUKE
You did the right thing. Never try
to understand a press message.
About half the time we use codes --
especially with Dr. Gonzo.
CLERK
But he will be available? Perhaps
later this morning?
DUKE
Look. That telegram was all
scrambled. It was actually from
Thompson, not to him. Western
Union must have gotten the names
reversed. I have to get going. I
have to get out to the track.
CLERK
There's no hurry! The race is over!
DUKE
(taking off)
Not for me.
posted by apis mellifera at 8:04 AM on March 4, 2005
« Older PhotoFilter | He writes darkly, Henning Mankell. Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by DaShiv at 5:47 AM on March 4, 2005