The death of a legendary character - Hunter S Thompson

One of the saddest things about my generation (and the generations to come) is that the majority of under 35's have never read a Hunter S Thompson story (or Kurt Vonnegut or Erica Jong or Virgina Woolf or Ernest Hemmingway - the list goes on). The closest they've been to one (and I count myself amongst that number and will repent at the first opportunity as I've always meant to read Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72) is a slightly above average - at least I think it is - movie starring Johnny Depp. The only gen xers who even noticed the passing of HST are entertainment whores (like myself, who hang off the CNN webpage) and the ever shrinking literati who prefer their Profound Important Literature with a short black macchiato and a goatee. (I'm so jealous of them.)
Such a sad sad sad indictment of my generation that we prefer Stephen King (who, to be fair, is a great fixture of popculture for my gen) and gameshows to a writer who provokes real discussion.

These quotes prove that Hunter was a man after my own heart . . .

The Fix is In,' Nov. 27, 2000
"There was one exact moment, in fact, when I knew for sure that Al Gore would Never be President of the United States, no matter what the experts were saying -- and that was when the whole Bush family suddenly appeared on TV and openly scoffed at the idea of Gore winning Florida. It was Nonsense, said the Candidate, Utter nonsense. . .Anybody who believed Bush had lost Florida was a Fool. The Media, all of them, were Liars & Dunces or treacherous whores trying to sabotage his victory. . . Here was the whole bloody Family laughing & hooting & sneering at the dumbness of the whole world on National TV. The old man was the real tip-off. The leer on his face was almost frightening. It was like looking into the eyes of a tall hyena with a living sheep in its mouth. The sheep's fate was sealed, and so was Al Gore's."

Fear & Loathing in America,' Sept.12, 2001
"The towers are gone now, reduced to bloody rubble, along with all hopes for Peace in Our Time, in the United States or any other country. Make no mistake about it: We are At War now -- with somebody -- and we will stay At War with that mysterious Enemy for the rest of our lives."
"It will be guerilla warfare on a global scale, with no front lines and no identifiable enemy. . . We are going to punish somebody for this attack, but just who or what will be blown to smithereens for it is hard to say. Maybe Afghanistan, maybe Pakistan or Iraq, or possibly all three at once. Who knows"?
"This is going to be a very expensive war, and Victory is not guaranteed -- for anyone, and certainly not for anyone as baffled as George W. Bush. All he knows is that his father started the war a long time ago, and that he, the goofy child-President, has been chosen by Fate and the global Oil industry to finish it Now."

The Bush League,' Sept. 9, 2003
"Why are we seeing George Bush on TV every two hours for nine or ten days at a time, like some kind of mutated Mr. Rogers clone? Something is dangerously wrong in any country where a monumentally-Failed backwoods politician can scare our national TV networks so totally that they will give him anything he wants."


Bat country indeed . . . rest in peace Mr Thompson.