Gustav Hasford

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Gus Hasford in Vietnam

Gustav Hasford (born November 28, 1947 in Russellville , Alabama , † January 29, 1993 in Aegina , Greece ) was an American marine, war correspondent and writer.

Life

Hasford joined the Marines in 1967 and served as a war correspondent in the Vietnam War . His semi-autobiographical novel The Short-Timers (German title: Höllenfeuer ) was later filmed by Stanley Kubrick as a Full Metal Jacket . The script for the film, nominated for an Oscar , was written by director Stanley Kubrick, writer Michael Herr and Hasford himself, although the scope of his contribution to the script gave rise to disputes between the three parties; as a result, Hasford decided not to appear at the Oscar ceremony.

Hasford worked in the 1970s with various science fiction authors (including Arthur Byron Cover and David J. Skal ), published in magazines and anthologies such as Space and Time and Damon Knights Orbit and at times shared an apartment with author Harlan Ellison . In 1988 Hasford was arrested in San Luis Obispo on the grounds that he had stolen a large number of books from several American libraries. Hasford claimed to have borrowed these works only to research a book on the American Civil War (which, incidentally, never appeared). He was sentenced to six months' imprisonment, of which he served three months and promised to pay for damages from the proceeds of his next book. This appeared as the successor to The Short Timers in 1990 under the title The Phantom Blooper .

Hasford's last book, a detective novel set in Los Angeles with the title A Gypsy Good Time , was published little noticed in 1992. The diabetic writer then moved to the island of Aegina off the coast of Greece, where he moved on January 29, 1993 Heart failure died.

Works

  • 1979: The Short-Timers (German: Hellfire )
  • 1990: The Phantom Blooper
  • 1992: A Gypsy Good Time

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Hasford, Gustav
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American Navy, war correspondent and writer
DATE OF BIRTH November 28, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Russellville , Alabama
DATE OF DEATH January 29, 1993
Place of death Aegina , Greece