WRITERS UNDER THE INFLUENCE: Hunter S. Thompson & Everything (Ch 6)

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Hunter S. Thompson couldn’t get out of his own way. He was the kind of guy who sat at the back of the class clowning around and cracking jokes, who pumped out essays the night before they were due; sometimes he produced a hit, sometimes a dud. His flaw was that he had the talent; he just never really applied himself. Why break a sweat when you can fluke your way through? Why stay sober when readers like what you put out while you’re high?

Hunter S. Thompson cultivated an image of rockstar proportions: an eccentric, hyper-masculine, booze-swilling, drug-taking court jester act that he soon found he couldn’t escape from, even when it was harming him.

CREDITS -
This episode was written and narrated by Key Whiskey. Special thanks to Jarryd Doyle for editing the audio and voicing Hunter S. Thompson, and other voices featured throughout.

Hunter S. Thompson 1937-2005

READ -
Now you know the writer, get to know his writing…

Hell’s Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (1966); ‘The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved’, Scanlan’s Monthly (1970); Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971); Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72 (1973); Gonzo Papers, Vol 1: The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time (1979); The Rum Diary (1998); Screw-Jack (2000).

WATCH -
Too lazy to read? Here are the film adaptations.

Where the Buffalo Roam (1980) - starring Bill Murray; Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) - starring Johnny Depp; The Rum Diary (2011) - starring Johnny Depp.

SOURCES -

’Airman Thompson’. Letters of Note, 25 May 2012, https://lettersofnote.com/2012/05/25/airman-thompson/.

Brinkley, Douglas. ‘Hunter S. Thompson: Contentment Was Not Enough’. Rolling Stone, 24 Mar. 2005, https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/hunter-s-thompson-contentment-was-not-enough-231836/.

Browne, David. ‘Inside Hunter S. Thompson’s Battle Against American Fascism’. Rolling Stone, 31 Oct. 2018, https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/hunter-thompson-fascism-nixon-freak-kingdom-politics-749623/.

Calhoun, Bob. ‘Yesterday’s Crimes: Hunter S. Thompson Gets Beaten’. SF Weekly, 3 Oct. 2016, https://www.sfweekly.com/news/news-news/yesterdays-crimes-hunter-s-thompson-gets-beaten/.

D’Entremont, Garrett. ‘Hunter S. Thompson’. 338: American Literature since 1865, Dec. 2011, https://wuster338fall2011.wordpress.com/student-pages/hunter-s-thompson/.

D’Orléans, Paul. ‘Freak Power: Hunter S Thompson’s for Sheriff’. The Vintagent, 14 Oct. 2017, https://thevintagent.com/2017/10/14/freak-power-hunter-s-thompson-for-sheriff/.

Daniel, Anne Margaret. ‘Running on empty, and on and on’. The Spectator, 16 Feb. 2019, https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/running-on-empty-and-on-and-on.

Dean, Michelle. ‘Hunter S Thompson’s son: “Whatever my father’s virtues, he was a basket case”’. The Guardian, 13 Jan. 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jan/12/juan-thompson-book-hunter-s-thompson-stories-i-tell-myself.

Doyle, Patrick. ‘Hunter S. Thompson: How the Writer Became a Legend’. Rolling Stone, 18 Jul. 2019, https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/rolling-stone-at-50-how-hunter-s-thompson-became-a-legend-115371/.

Feehan, Rory P. ‘Review - Freak Power: Hunter S. Thompson’s Campaign for Sheriff’. Totally Gonzo, 3 Aug. 2015, https://totallygonzo.org/2015/08/03/review-freak-power-hunter-s-thompsons-campaign-for-sheriff/.

Flood, Alison. ‘Antlers Hunter S. Thompson stole from Hemingway’s home returned to family’. The Guardian, 15 Aug. 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/aug/15/antlers-hunter-s-thompson-stole-from-hemingways-home-returned-to-family.

Foy, Chris. ‘The Substance Abuse of Hunter S. Thompson in Search of the “Good Life”’. FHE Health, 28 Aug. 2018, https://fherehab.com/news/the-substance-abuse-of-hunter-s-thompson-in-search-of-the-good-life/.

Gates, David. ‘Some Kind of Journalist’. Columbia Journalism Review, Sep.-Oct. 2008, https://archives.cjr.org/review/some_kind_of_journalist_1.php.

Gilbert, Sophie. ‘When Hunter S. Thompson Ran for Sheriff of Aspen’. The Atlantic, 26 Jun. 2014, https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/06/when-hunter-s-thompson-ran-for-sheriff-of-aspen/372949/.

Heath, Chris. ‘Johnny Depp’s Savage Journey Into “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”’. Rolling Stone, 11 Jun. 1998, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/johnny-depps-savage-journey-into-fear-and-loathing-in-las-vegas-184365/.

Horton, Leon. ‘Hunter S. Thompson: Fear and Loathing in utero’. International Times, 31 Aug. 2019, http://internationaltimes.it/hunter-s-thompson-fear-and-loathing-in-utero/.

’Hunter S. Thompson - Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride (Documentary)’. YouTube, uploaded by Infinite Sense, 4 Jun. 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlAZV_EsSSE&t=2399s.

’Hunter S. Thompson - Gonzo Extraordinaire’. YouTube, uploaded by Biographics, 24 May 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtWOAmXgGBU.

’Hunter S. Thompson’. Encylopaedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hunter-S-Thompson.

’Hunter S. Thompson - Author, Journalist’. Biography, 27 Apr. 2017, https://www.biography.com/writer/hunter-s-thompson.

’Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005)’. Biblio, https://biblio.com.au/hunter-s-thompson/author/525.

’Hunter S. Thompson meets a Hell’s Angel, 1967’. YouTube, uploaded by CBC, 7 Jul. 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccyu44rsaZo.

’It Happened In History: Hunter S. Thompson’. American Society of Authors and Writers, https://amsaw.org/amsaw-ithappenedinhistory-071804-thompson.html.

Kinne, Lara. ‘GonzoFest’s new home, library wing may be named after Hunter S. Thompson and is mother, Virginia’. Leo Weekly, 17 Apr. 2017, https://www.leoweekly.com/2017/04/ride-gonzofests-new-home-library-wing-named-hunter-s-thompson/.

Lewis, Tim. ‘Jann Wenner: “Hunter S. Thompson let his talent slip’. The Guardian, 14 May 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/may/14/jann-wenner-rolling-stone-founder-interview-hunter-s-thompson-john-lennon.

Lindenberger, Michael A. ‘Hunter Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Louisville’. Leo Weekly, 12 Dec. 1996, https://www.leoweekly.com/2016/04/hunter-thompsons-fear-and-loathing-in-louisville/.

Marsh, Stefanie. ‘Hunter Thompson’s son Juan recalls growing up with a gonzo dad’. The Australian, 17 Feb. 2016, https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/the-times/hunter-thompsons-son-juan-recalls-growing-up-with-a-gonzo-dad/news-story/f08c4c777495f43e219314a038049cc0.

Norcia, Alex. ‘Hunter S. Thompson’s son shocker: “Hunter was surprised and pleased that I actually grew up apparently sane”’. Salon, 4 Jan. 2016, https://www.salon.com/2016/01/04/hunter_s_thompsons_son_shocker_hunter_was_surprised_and_pleased_that_i_actually_grew_up_apparently_sane/.

Othitis, Christine. ‘A History of the Rum Diary’. The Great Thompson Hunt, 1998, http://www.gonzo.org/books/rd/rd.asp?ID=a.

Pariseau, Leslie. ‘Juan Thompson, Son of Hunter S., Writes a Book of His Own’. Vanity Fair, 3 Mar. 2016, https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/03/juan-thompson-stories-i-tell-myself-book.

Plimpton, George. ‘The Time Hunter S. Thompson Passed Out In A Pool And Missed The Rumble In The Jungle’. Deadspin, 26 Apr. 2016, https://thestacks.deadspin.com/the-time-hunter-s-thompson-passed-out-in-a-pool-and-mi-1772492594.

Schwartz, Drew. ‘Airbnbing Hunter S. Thompson’s Cabin Sounds Miserable and Also Terrifying’. Vice, 19 Jul. 2019, https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/9kx4g8/hunter-s-thompson-airbnb-writing-cabin-colorado-owl-farm.

Seabrook, Andrea, host. ‘Remembering the Turbulent Life of a “Gonzo” Writer’. All Things Considered, NPR, 18 Nov. 2007, https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16339490.

Thompson, Hunter S. ‘He was a crook’. The Atlantic, Jul. 1994, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1994/07/he-was-a-crook/308699/.

Thompson, Hunter S. Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967, edited by Douglas Brinkley, Random House, New York, 1997.

Thompson, Hunter S. Conversations with Hunter S. Thompson, edited by Beef Torrey and Kevin Simonson, University Press of Mississippi, Jackson, 2008.

Thompson, Hunter S. Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone: The Essential Writing of Hunter S. Thompson, edited by Jann Wenner, Simon & Schuster, New York, 2011.

Hunter S. Thompson after being stomped by the Hell’s Angels.

Thompson, Hunter S. Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century, Penguin, London, 2011.

Valjak, Domagoj. ‘In 1970 Hunter S. Thompson ran for sheriff of Aspen wanting to ban cars and legalize certain substances’. The Vintage News, 25 Nov. 2017, https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/11/25/hunter-s-thompson-ran-for-sheriff-of-aspen/.

Weedston, Lindsey. ‘Hunter S. Thompson Nearly Became Sheriff Of Aspen With “Free Weed” Campaign’. The Fix, 29 May 2019, https://www.thefix.com/hunter-s-thompson-nearly-became-sheriff-aspen-free-weed-campaign.

Wenner, Jann S. & Seymour, Corey. ‘Hunter S. Thompson: Growing Up Gonzo’. Rolling Stone, 4 Oct. 2007, https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/hunter-s-thompson-growing-up-gonzo-69115/.

Wenner, Jann & Seymour, Corey. Gonzo: The Life of Hunter S. Thompson, Hachette, London, 2008.

Wills, David S. ‘The Kentucky Derby: Decadent and Depraved?’ Beatdom, 26 Sep. 2013, https://www.beatdom.com/the-kentucky-derby-decadent-and-depraved/.

Wills, David S. ‘The Rum Diary and the Youth of Hunter S. Thompson’. Beatdom, 7 Dec. 2013, https://www.beatdom.com/the-rum-diary-and-the-youth-of-hunter-s-thompson/.

Hunter S. Thompson during his 1970 run for sheriff of Pitkin County, Aspen.

MUSIC -
The music used in this episode, with the exception of the intro and outro, was sourced from royalty-free music libraries such as the Free Music Archive and YouTube’s Audio Library. The intro features an excerpt from Margaret Fielding’s ‘I Could Write a Book’. The outro includes an excerpt from Artie Shaw and His Orchestra’s ‘I Could Write a Book’.

Discography
“Sunset Trails” by DJ Williams
“Roads that burned our boots” by Jahzzar
“The Last Ones” by Jahzzar
“Take Me To The Depths” by Midnight North
“Mr West” by Drew Banga
“Guitar Arpeggio - Giulio Nightfall Guitarist” by Royalty Free Loop
“Rage” by The 126ers
“Kool Kats” by Kevin MacLeod
“Puerto Rico Me Llama” by Jimmy Fontanez/Media Right Productions
“Merengue de Limon” by Quincas Moreira
“The Wrong Way” by Jahzzar“Breaking Bad” by Jahzzar
“Arpeggio Fx 2 Guitar Spacey” by Royalty Free Loop
“Railroad’s Whiskey Co.” by Jahzzar
“Three Kinds of Suns” by Norma Rockwell
“Night Owl” by Broke For Free
“Western Spaghetti” by Chris Haugen
“Readers! Do You Read?” by Chris Zabriskie
“Mouse Trap” by Apache Tomcat
“Tumbleweed Texas” by Chris Haugen
“Cowboy Lullaby” by JHS Pedals
“Lost Cowboy” by Coyote Hearing
“Slow Burn” by Kevin MacLeod
“St. Francis” by Josh Lippi & The Overtimers
“Target Practice” by Riot
“Quiet” by The Mini Vandals

Other Audio
A clip from the 2019 Kentucky Derby race
A clip from Hunter S. Thompson’s 1967 appearance on CBC
A clip from the Where The Buffalo Roam (1980) trailer

Hunter S. Thompson and his son, Juan Fitzgerald.