www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Off topic for this board, I know. But I would wager there's a little Hunter S. Thompson in all of us here.

Whether you or not you liked or agreed with him, there's no doubt he was a true maverick. Some of the characters I've read of on this board would fit right in with Rauol Duke, I sure.

I don't look anything like him, but next time I'm down just look for the guy with the long cigarette holder. That'll be my tribute.

Loafie

I was somewhat stunned when I heard he took his own life. I always figured he would die from his long-term drug and alcohol abuse. I always
enjoyed his novels and articles, and shared many of his views, such as
"most politicians now are whores". His 'Fear and Loathing' tales were
hilarious! One thing that always puzzled me though, is why he never
(as far as I know) visited Costa Rica? I know he would have loved it

HST - RIP.

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro". Indeed!

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"In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upwardly mobile, and the rest of us are phucked until we can put our acts together; not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely"...Hunter S. Thompson (RIP)

When I heard the news that HST died, one of the first things I thought of was my pal and longtime HST fan GT, who has always featured a quote from HST in his sigline. My condolences, bro.

always been a fan of his musings... here are some of them...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/archive? ... root=page2

RIP Hunter

Bing

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Yippieeeee !!

HST committed suicide on Sunday at 67 years old outside of Aspen, CO. His son discovered his body. I have always had a great respect for his "indiviual," displays of character, while not always agreeing with all of his activities.

There was almost as much press coverage in today's "The Denver Post" newspaper as was for yesterday's NBA All Star Game held in Denver.

My favorite HST quote: "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
I have found through observation that he is absolutely correct on that one.

Denver

I first read "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" in Rolling Stone, 1971.
I've read it at least 5 times since.

"I've never advocated drugs or alcohol........but they've always worked for me." - Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

Actually partied with HST in '79 in Denver. At the time I had never heard of him but I was with a Hell's Angel who will remain anonymous who was in his book and also a friend. Was living in Albuquerque at the time and was up in Denver for "the" party of which I had no idea of who or what was happening. I was 29 yrs old and had other things in my life happening that were way more inportant at the time.
May he rest in peace. And truly he LIVED his life as he wrote it.
PAX,
Sluthog

Sluthog...that Hell's Angel wouldn't be Sonny Bargar would it? He was the original and long-time head of the Hell's Angels.

HST was the only person ever to ride with both Richard Nixon and the Hell's Angels. He was covering the presidential election campaign in 1971 and rode with Nixon late one night in a limo from Boston up to Manchester NH. He rode with the Hell's Angels in California for a year or so, and nearly got killed once. They stomped him pretty bad, breaking his nose, etc.

_________________
"In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upwardly mobile, and the rest of us are phucked until we can put our acts together; not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely"...Hunter S. Thompson (RIP)

Gringotim,

A side note on the beating that HST received from the Hell's Angels in CA. The the beating happened after HST's book was published and the Angels were piss*d about two things. First, they thought that their image was portrayed a little too "rough" by HST in the book; and second, they thought that they deserved some sort of cash royalty payment off the sales proceeds.

Regarding the second issue, HST bought the Angels several kegs of beer.
By the way, during the year that Hunter rode with and studied the Angels he had a BSA 650CC Lightning.

While I have lived in Colorado longer than HST, and have many friends and acquaintences that have met and know him; our paths never crossed.

Just a little trivia.

Denver

Two writers who lived during my life time that I can genuinely relate to are Charles Bukowsky and Hunter S. Thompson—both gone now.

I first discovered HST when my brother gave me a copy of “Hell’s Angels: A Strange And Terrible Saga” in about 1967. That books sits on my book shelf now beside “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey into the Heart of the American Dream” and “Gonzo Papers, Volume One: Strange Tales from a Strange Time.” Hunter’s writings and Bukowsky’s poems are among the handful of books I’ve bothered to pack as I moved around the country. For me, “Fear and Loathing” is still the funniest book ever written.

I was looking over HST’s books tonight and noticed a blurb on the dust cover of “Gonzo Papers” from the New York Times Book Review:


My kind of guy.

From Salon.com:

by Ralph "Sonny" Barger, Hell’s Angel. "All show and no go"

Hunter S. Thompson wrote an article in the May 17, 1965, issue of The Nation about the Hell’s Angels and called it "The Motorcycle Gangs, Losers and Outsiders." I actually liked the way it was written, even though some of the facts were exaggerated. After the article received a good reaction, Thompson came back to Oakland and hung around the club’s favorite biker bar hangouts until he and I finally met face-to-face. He told me he wanted to ride with the club and me and write a book about us. Since I liked the way he wrote, the Oakland and Frisco chapters I let Hunter hang out with the club for a price, two kegs of beer. But as time went by, Hunter turned out to be a real weenie and a stone phucking coward. You read about he walks around his house now with pistols, shooting them out of his windows to impress writers who show up to interview him. He’s all show and no go. When he tried to act tough with us, no matter what happened, Hunter Thompson got scared. I ended up not liking him at all, a tall skinny, typical hillbilly from Kentucky. He was a total fake. Hunter got along with some of the members better than me.

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Sorry, but he may have been a pansy to Barger, but just going in there gets props from me.

Loafie