Hunter S. Thompson

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Hunter S. Thompson (1989)

Hunter Stockton Thompson (born July 18, 1937 in Louisville , Kentucky , † February 20, 2005 in Woody Creek near Aspen , Colorado ) was an American writer and journalist who was particularly known for his reports .

Life

Childhood and youth

Hunter S. Thompson was the eldest child of Jack Robert Thompson (1893-1952) and Virginia Davidson Ray (1908-1998). His father died when Thompson was 14 years old. His mother, who raised him and his two brothers alone, became an alcoholic .

Thompson was already interested in literature during his school days. In 1952 he became a member of the Athenaeum Literary Association at his school . Another member of this club was Porter Bibb , who later became the first editor of Rolling Stone .

In 1955, Thompson was accused of helping with robbery , arrested and sentenced to 60 days in prison, of which he served 30 days. Because of this criminal record, he was expelled from the literature club. Juvenile offenders were often advised to join the U.S. armed forces and Thompson joined the military.

Army time

Thompson completed his basic training with the US Air Force at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio , Texas . He was then transferred to Illinois and trained as an electronics technician. He applied to be a pilot but was turned down. In 1956 he was transferred to Eglin Air Force Base near Pensacola , Florida , where he worked, among other things, as a sports reporter for the Kasernen-Zeitung.

1958 Thompson left the US Air Force as " Airman First Class". His senior officer's final testimony stated that Thompson, although talented, was too undisciplined for army service.

Beginnings - Between Literature and Journalism

After serving in the Air Force, Thompson first worked as a sports reporter for a newspaper in Jersey Shore , Pennsylvania, and then moved to New York . There he took courses at Columbia University in creative writing as a part-time student . At the same time he worked for Time Magazine for a short time , but was fired in 1959. At the end of 1959 he had a job with the Times Herald Record in Middletown , but was soon dismissed there too after arguments with colleagues and advertisers.

In 1960 Thompson moved to San Juan , Puerto Rico , where he worked for the sports newspaper El Sportivo , which, however, ceased its publication shortly after his arrival. Nevertheless, he stayed in Puerto Rico and wrote from there for the New York Herald Tribune, among others . A little later he processed his time in Puerto Rico in the novel The Rum Diary , which, however, did not find a publisher and was only published in 1998. In 1961 he returned to the USA, where he lived in Big Sur , California for some time .

Between May 1962 and May 1963, Thompson traveled through South America as a correspondent for the weekly National Observer . In May 1963, shortly after his return to the US, he married his girlfriend Sandra (Sandy) Dawn Conklin. The two temporarily moved to Aspen , Colorado , where their son Juan Fitzgerald Thompson was born in March 1964. The marriage was divorced in 1980, but Thompson and Sandy remained friends.

In 1964 the Thompsons moved to Glen Ellen , California, from where he continued to write for the National Observer and then to San Francisco , where he came into close contact with the local underground scene . In 1965, The Nation magazine offered him the opportunity to write a report on the Hells Angels . After the article appeared, Thompson received offers for a book on the subject and subsequently spent a year with the motorcycle gang. In 1966 his book Hell's Angels was published , which sold well and made him famous. After this success he was able to publish in numerous magazines and newspapers and finally earn a secure income as a journalist and author.

Rolling Stone , Gonzo and Politics

In the late 1960s he was one of the first authors of the new Rolling Stone magazine . Thompson's eccentric and extravagant lifestyle and writing style was one of the reasons Rolling Stone was so successful . During this time Thompson created his very personal form, what he called gonzo journalism (the expression gonzo was coined by his friend, the journalist Bill Cardoso ). It was at this time also Thompson's most famous book, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (dt. Title Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas , literally fear and loathing in Las Vegas ). This book, like many of the others of Thompson's titles , was illustrated by his friend, the Englishman Ralph Steadman .

In the 1970s, Thompson turned increasingly to politics. In 1970 he ran for sheriff in Aspen , Colorado . Thompson was supported by a "freak platform" and his manifesto included some radical demands, such as legalizing drugs, converting all streets into bike lanes and renaming Aspen to "Fat City" . The incumbent sheriff was a Republican who always wore a short military haircut, which Thompson encouraged to shave himself and then to call his opponent as "my long-haired opponent" ( "my long-haired opponent" ). He lost, but remained - to the chagrin of several local citizens with whom he was still at war - until the end of his life at the Owl Farm Ranch, his small wooden house near Aspen.

In 1972 he reported for Rolling Stone on the presidential campaign, where he tied closely to the camp of Democratic candidate George McGovern . Thompson wrote extensively about the Watergate scandal and supported the then unknown Jimmy Carter early on in the following presidential election , with whom he befriended and with whom he conducted some very personal interviews. As a foreign correspondent, Thompson also reported on the 1983 invasion of Grenada by the US Marines and later remained a political commentator.

Withdrawal - Between Sport and Politics

In 2000, he described George W. Bush's controversial election victory as "the most brutal seizure of power since Hitler burned the Reichstag in 1933 and declared himself the new head of Germany". ( "The most brutal seizure of power since Hitler burned the German Reichstag in 1933 and declared himself the new Boss of Germany" ). He also frequently used his Internet sports column Hey Rube to rant about the Bush administration and the mendacity of the modern age. “Who VOTES these dishonest idiots?” ( “Who DOES vote for these dishonest shitheads?” ), He wrote in 2003, referring to the people who were reinstated in the White House at that time . “They are the racists and agitators among us - they are the Ku Klux Klan . "I piss' those Nazis in the neck. ( " - "they are the Ku Klux Klan I piss down the throats of thesis Nazis They are the racists and hate mongers among us.. )

Thompson was friends with Keith Richards , Oscar Zeta Acosta , Bob Dylan , Warren Zevon , Jack Nicholson, and Johnny Depp , whom he called just "Colonel," and others.

death

"Gonzo Fist"

On February 20, 2005, Hunter S. Thompson shot himself in the head at his desk in Woody Creek. According to his son Juan Thompson, the writer had planned and often announced his suicide for a long time. He did not act out of desperation, but wanted to resign at the right time. According to Thompson's last will, a stone monument in the shape of the Gonzo Fist was erected on his farm in Woody Creek, near Aspen, 153 feet (46.6 m) high . It was designed by Ralph Steadman according to instructions from Hunter S. Thompson himself. The Gonzo Fist is contained in the Gonzo symbol , forms the upper part, on which the word Gonzo , ends with a double-edged blade at the bottom. The gonzo fist is a hand clenched into a fist with two thumbs pointing inwards, which hold a peyote cactus .

A cannon is integrated into this monument, from which Thompson's ashes were shot into the air at the funeral on August 20, 2005. The $ 3 million project was funded largely by Johnny Depp, who played Thompson in the film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas , along with other friends of the deceased. Johnny Depp personally lit the cannon at the memorial service.

As a veteran of the US Air Force, Thompson is entitled to a US government-funded tombstone on which his widow wants to have his motto "It never got weird enough for me" carved.

Seven months after Hunter S. Thompson's suicide, Rolling Stone published the suicide note to his wife. Under the heading "Football Season is over" ("The football season is over") Thompson wrote four days before his suicide:

“No More Games. No more bombs. No more walking. No more fun. No more swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy. No Fun --— for anybody. 67. You are getting greedy. Act your old age. Relax —-- This won't hurt. "

“No more games. No more bombs. No more walking. No more fun. No more swimming. 67. That is 17 years after 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am just hateful. No fun - for anyone. 67. You get greedy. Behave appropriately to your old age. Relax - it won't hurt. "

plant

Beginnings - Beat Generation and Bread Work

Thompson was heavily influenced by the Beat Generation early in his career and, as described in his autobiography Kingdom of Fear , a close friend of Allen Ginsberg . However, he did not initially find publishers for his early stories and novels. They were published late (like the Rum Diary ) or posthumously , if at all . After these initial failures, he turned to journalism and wrote comparatively conventional sports reports, articles and reports to earn a living.

New Journalism and Gonzo

The New Journalism , a literary reportage style, in which the author makes a subjective part of coverage spread since the mid-1960s. Important early representatives were Truman Capote with his thoroughly researched factual novel in cold blood and Tom Wolfe with his article The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby . Influenced by these works, Thompson began to write an article and then a book about the Hells Angels . In Hell's Angels (1966), he described his relationship with members of the motorcycle gang and their "everyday life". To this end, Thompson lived with members of the Hells Angels for several months and was therefore criticized for having lost the necessary journalistic distance. From this point on, Thompson himself denied that there could be such a thing as journalistic distance, and elevated subjectivism to his journalistic style.

After the commercial success of Hell's Angels, Thompson radicalized his writing style, made it even more personal, more subjective - and often drove it into the fictional and fantastic (making alter egos like Raoul Duke the narrator). He was influenced by it and a. from Frederick Exley's novel A Fan's Notes . The line between reportage and literature became increasingly blurred. The first example of Thompson's - what he himself called - gonzo journalism was The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved (1970), to which Ralph Steadman first contributed illustrations. This style was further radicalized in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971), a hunt for the American Dream that is less reportage than psychedelic novel.

By the late 1970s, Thompson published numerous gonzo-style reports, many of which appeared in Rolling Stone . In addition, there were numerous political reports from the beginning of the 1970s, often on presidential elections. The best known are gathered in the volume Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72 , in which Thompson describes his experiences with George McGovern and Richard Nixon .

Commentator and sports reporter

Overwhelmed by his success and public reputation, Thompson increasingly withdrew to his estate in Aspen, Colorado from the late 1970s. Because of his reputation, it was less and less possible for him as a journalist to approach people in an impartial manner - which also contributed to the fact that many readers equated his fictions, i.e. his self-portrayal as Raoul Duke, with himself. Since about 1980 Thompson published almost exclusively political commentaries in which, unlike before, he only referred to television and the press, as well as sports columns. There were also new editions of earlier works.

Film adaptations and reception

bibliography

  • Hell's Angels (1967, adapted by Jochen Schwarzer, 2004)
  • Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971, German fear and horror in Las Vegas ,translatedby Teja Schwaner, 1998)
  • Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 (1973, German fear and horror in election campaigns ,translatedby Teja Schwaner, 2008)
  • The Curse of Lono (1984)
  • Generation of Swine: Tales of Shame and Degradation in the 80s (1989)
  • Songs of the Doomed: More Notes on the Death of the American Dream (1990)
  • The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time (1991, The great shark hunt: And other strange reports from a strange time , cited by Teja Schwaner, 2008)
  • Better than Sex (1995)
  • Song of the Sausage Creature , article in Cycle World magazine , March 1995
  • The Rum Diary . A Novel (1999; written 1959, German The Rum Diary , translatedby Wolfgang Farkas, 2004)
  • The Fear and Loathing Letters also known under the name Gonzo Letters (selected letters in three volumes)
    • The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman 1955-1967 (1998)
    • Fear And Loathing In America: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist 1968–1976 (2001)
    • The Mutineer: Rants, Ravings, and Missives from the Mountaintop 1977–2005 (expected to be released August 2012)
  • Screwjack. A Short Story (2000, translated by Karsten Kredel, 2005)
  • Kingdom of Fear : Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century (2003, Kingdom of Fear ,translatedby Teja Schwaner, 2006)
  • Hey Rube: Blood Sport, the Bush Doctrine and the Downward Spiral of Dumbness (2004, German Hey Rube: Blood Sport, the Bush Doctrine and the Downward Spiral of Stupidity. Contemporary history from the sports department , translated by Norbert Hofmann, 2006)

Documentation

  • Fear and Loathing: On the Road to Hollywood (1978)
  • Breakfast with Hunter (2003)
  • When I Die (2005)
  • Final 24: Hunter S. Thompson (2006)
  • Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride: Hunter S. Thompson on Film (2006)
  • Free Lisl: Fear & Loathing in Denver (2006)
  • Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (2008)
  • Animals, Whores, & Dialogue: Breakfast with Hunter Vol. 2 (2010)

literature

  • Douglas Brinkley (Ed.): Fear and loathing in America: the brutal odyssey of an outlaw journalist, 1968-1976. Bloomsbury, London 2000, ISBN 0-7475-4964-8 .
  • Paul Perry: Fear and Loathing. The fabulous life of Hunter S. Thompson. Bittermann 2005, ISBN 3-89320-089-4 .
  • Jay Cowan: Hunter S. Thompson: An Insider's View of Deranged, Depraved, Drugged Out Brilliance. The Lyons Press 2009, ISBN 978-1-59921-357-6 .
  • Will Bingley, Anthony Hope-Smith: Gonzo. The graphic biography of Hunter S. Thompson. Tolkemitt Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-942048-43-9 (biography in the form of a graphic novel, translated by Jan-Frederik Bandel).
  • Kingdom of Gonzo: Interviews with Hunter S. Thompson. Edited by Klaus Bittermann , translated by Carl-Ludwig Reichert . Edition Tiamat, 2011, ISBN 978-3-89320-158-7 .
  • Cheryl Della Pietra: Gonzo girl: Roman . Marie Rahn in Romanian. Munich: Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, 2016 ISBN 978-3-453-41897-4

Web links

Wikiquote: Hunter S. Thompson  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ SFGate: Bill Cardoso - journalist who coined the word 'Gonzo' , March 5, 2006
  2. ↑ Owl Farm Ranch
  3. ↑ Rolling Stone - Football Season Is Over ( Memento from June 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Rolling Stone , online, (English)
  4. ↑ Thompson's funeral: Ashes shot up in the air by US author spiegel.de, August 21, 2005
  5. ↑ Douglas Brinkley: Football Season Is Over Dr. Hunter S. Thompson's final note ... Entering the no more fun zone . Rolling Stone. September 8, 2005. Archived from the original on June 19, 2008. Retrieved October 13, 2008.
  6. ^ Hunter S. Thompson: Fear and Loathing in America. The Gonzo Letters, Volume II. Touchstone, New York, 2000, p. 273, letter to Bill Cardoso dated January 29, 1970: “I've been brooding over my copy of A Fan's Notes for more than a year ... It's a terrible fucking book - breaks every conceivable rule, etc. - for some reason it's one of the best thing I've read in years. "
  7. ^ IMDb: Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride: Hunter S. Thompson on Film
  8. ^ IMDb: Gonzo. The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
  9. ↑ Deutschlandradio Kultur wins German Radio Prize 2012: "Long Night" awarded by Hunter S. Thompson in Hamburg
  10. ↑ See Song of the Sausage Creature and article on the origin of the text on cycleworld.com, November 21, 2012.
  11. ↑ [1]
  12. ↑ See review by Peter Münder culturmag.de, January 11, 2012
personal data
SURNAME Thompson, Hunter S.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thompson, Hunter Stockton (full name); Dr. Gonzo (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American writer and reporter
DATE OF BIRTH July 18, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Louisville , Kentucky
DATE OF DEATH February 20, 2005
Place of death Woody Creek near Aspen , Colorado