Short Stories, Long Odds

Hunter S. Thompson is dead. Many people are hesitant to say he committed suicide, but most reports list cause of death as “a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.”

This is depressing. WaPo has an interesting anecdote:

His beat, he once said was “the death of the American dream.” Interviewers later suggested to him that he in a way embodied that dream. They said he exploded in profanity, but conceded that perhaps he did.

For those of you wondering who Hunter S. Thompson is? Thompson was a pioneer in journalism, a Woodward that hangs out at the bar you’re afraid to go into. He was full of booze, drugs, and vitriol. He carved a path for himself and countless imitators (of which I’m certainly not innocent) in new journalism with gonzo - hyper-subjective journalism. He argued that objectivity was not always the best way to get to the truth, and he was right.

God dammit.