Hunter S. Thompson

Hunter Stockton Thompson (July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005) was an American journalist and author. He was known for his flamboyant writing style, most notably deployed in his novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which blurred the distinctions between writer and subject, fiction and nonfiction. It became known as gonzo journalism and was widely imitated.

Early years

A Louisville, Kentucky native, Thompson grew up in the Cherokee Triangle neighborhood of the Highlands and attended Louisville Male High School. His parents, Jack (d. 1952) and Virginia (d. 1999), married in 1935. Jack's death left three sons—Hunter, Davison, and James—to be brought up by their mother, who was a chronic drinker.{{fn|1}} Thompson's difficult youth, and its influence on his behavior and the development of his misanthropic worldview, has not received significant literary exploration.

Related Topics:
Louisville, Kentucky - Cherokee Triangle - Highlands - Louisville Male High School - 1952 - 1999 - 1935

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After early trouble with the law, including an arrest in 1956 for robbery, he enlisted in the Air Force as part of his punishment. At Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, in 1956, he began working as a sports journalist, writing for the base newspaper. He was discharged in 1958. Thompson worked briefly as a copy editor for Time Magazine while maintaining a beat-inspired lifestyle in New York City.

Related Topics:
1956 - Air Force - Eglin Air Force Base - Florida - Sports - Newspaper - 1958 - Copy editor - Time Magazine - Beat - New York City

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thompson traveled extensively in the Caribbean and South America, writing freelance articles for a number of U.S. daily newspapers. While in Puerto Rico, he befriended the journalist William Kennedy. Thompson also spent time as a South American correspondent for a Dow Jones-owned weekly newspaper, the National Observer. In the early 1960s he lived and worked as a security guard at Big Sur Hot Springs at the time it became Esalen Institute.

Related Topics:
Caribbean - South America - Freelance - Puerto Rico - William Kennedy - Dow Jones - National Observer - Big Sur - Esalen Institute

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the meantime, Thompson wrote two serious novels (Prince Jellyfish and The Rum Diary) and many short stories. Despite repeated submissions to publishers, only The Rum Diary was ever published—in 1998, long after it was written, and long after he had become a celebrity. Kennedy later remarked that he and Thompson were both failed novelists who had turned to journalism in order to make a living.

Related Topics:
Prince Jellyfish - The Rum Diary - Short stories

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He married his long time girlfriend Sandra Dawn Conklin ( a.k.a. Sandy Conklin Thompson, now Sondi Wright) on May 19, 1963. The couple had one son, Juan Fitzgerald Thompson, born March 23, 1964. The couple concieved five more times together; three miscarriages, and two which died shortly after birth. In Rolling Stone issue 970, a tribute issue for Hunter, Sandy wrote, " I .. want to acknowledge the five children Hunter and I lost-two full term babies, three miscarriages...I had so wanted more Hunters! One of the most beautiful gifts that Hunter ever gave me...Sarah, our full term, eight-pound baby, lived about twelve hours. I lay there in Aspen Valley Hospital waiting, and when I saw the doctor's face it was unbearable. I thought I might go mad. Hunter leaned over the bed and said," Sandy, if you want to go out there for awhile- do that, just know that Juan and I really need you." I was back."

Related Topics:
May 19 - 1963 - March 23 - 1964 - Rolling Stone

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After nineteen years together, seventeen years of marriage, Hunter and Sandy divorced in 1980, though the two remained close friends until Hunter's death.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thompson got his big break in 1965 when he was approached by The Nation editor Carey McWilliams with an idea for a story based upon his experience with the notorious Hells Angels motorcycle gang. Thompson had spent a year living and riding with the Hells Angels, but the relationship broke down when the bikers suspected that Thompson was making money from his writing, and they demanded a share of the profits. The author ended up with a savage beating, or 'stomping' as the Angels referred to it. After the article was published by The Nation (May 17, 1965), numerous book offers on the subject came his way, and Random House published the hard cover ' in 1966. Radical feminist Susan Brownmiller strongly criticized Thompson's book's treatment of gang-rape by Hells Angels in her own book, '.

Related Topics:
1965 - The Nation - Carey McWilliams - Hells Angels - May 17 - Random House - 1966 - Radical feminist - Susan Brownmiller

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the late 1960s, Thompson received a "doctorate" in Divinity from a mail-order church while living in San Francisco.

Related Topics:
1960s - San Francisco

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~