Sad, sad day. Anyone heard if he was ill or something? (I'm not saying that HST strikes me as someone incapable of taking his own life, but sure seems strange, unless he was doing it to make a political point.)
I hadn't heard anything, but this picture makes me suspect that he was just fed up with an ailing body.
*sigh* yeah, maybe.
I'm surprised at how hard this is hitting me...I just blogged this whole thing too.
It just doesn't strike me as making much sense, but then what suicide does, I guess...?
It would be interesting to know more about the circumstances. I hate talking about suicide, in a way, because on one hand I think there are all sorts of cases in which it does make sense, but on the other I think that most actual suicides don't make sense, and I don't want to be too casual about that fact. That said, I can imagine a person deeply committed to doing things his way, on his terms, finding it better to end his life rather than to suffer a slow decline, or incapacitating illness, or some other affront to his values. I hope it was a case like this-- even if I disagree with the choice-- than, say, an act done from depression.
Read elsewhere that he had consistently said he wanted to choose the time of his death.
an act done from depression.
I know no details, of course, but certain chemical use can lead to depression, really bad depression.
Not to mention that drunk gun nuts have committed more than a few unintentional suicides. Just no telling, really.
"Just no telling, really."
I'm mildly bugged by considering that we're apt to see "ripped from the headlines!" versions of this on at least one, if not more, versions of both Law And Order and CSI.
The key thing is that it's not that I'm inherently bothered by that sort of thing; it's just that I'm convinced neither could possibly remotely due justice to the authentic Thompson.
And that's the shame. We could really use the authentic reporting of the young Thompson these days, and no imitator will possibly do (though others will, of course, do their own good in their own way), and those who try should be given a good smack on the head.
This story contains a juicy first-hand account of W's so coked out and wasted he passed out in Hunter's bathtub days. It can't be missed!
"This story contains a juicy first-hand account of W's so coked out and wasted he passed out in Hunter's bathtub days. It can't be missed!"
Far be it from me to disuade anyone from reading one of my fine posts (and I do have one coming up with a bunch of links to thoughtful post-mortems on Thompson, though I don't promise to post it before the weekend is out), but it's kinda necessary to note that while Thompson was sui generis and an outstanding contributor to our culture, taking his version of any events as particularly factual is not precisely advisable. Not that I know that there was anything inaccurate in this particular account, to be sure.
I may even quote the correspondent who said that Fear And Loathing On the Campaign Trail: 1972 was the least factual and most accurate account of the election.