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HUNTER S. THOMPSON DEAD
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Hunter S Thompson, the American counterculture writer, has been found dead at his home in Colorado.
Thompson's son, Juan, found his body. He said the 67-year-old shot himself.
He is best-known for his 1972 account of a drug-addled Nevada trip, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Other books are Hells Angels and Generation of Swine.
Thompson pioneered "gonzo journalism", a factual style in which the writer was an essential part of the story, and was an acute observer of American life.
In a statement to the Aspen Daily News, Thompson's son, Juan, said: "On February 20, Dr Hunter S Thompson took his life with a gunshot to the head at his fortified compound in Woody Creek, Colorado.
"Hunter prized his privacy and we ask that his friends and admirers respect that privacy as well as that of his family."
Tricia Louthis, spokeswoman for the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office, said it appeared the writer had committed suicide.
"We do have confirmation that Hunter Thompson was found dead this evening of an apparent self-inflicted wound," she said.
Thompson was known for his observations on the decadence and depravity of American life.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas became a psychedelic classic, telling the story of Thompson's drug-hazed road trip across the western US in search of the American Dream.
The story was eventually made into a movie starring Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro.
Author Martin A Lee, who met and interviewed Thompson on a number of occasions, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that Thompson's death was "sad" but "not surprising", describing him as someone who "lived on the edge".
He said: "[Thompson] did bequeath a very significant body of literature and journalism.
"It is wonderful and exuberant writing that opened a cultural space for other writers to follow".
Thompson also wrote the satire Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72.
"Fiction is based on reality unless you're a fairytale artist," he told Associated Press news agency in 2003.
"You have to get your knowledge of life from somewhere. You have to know the material you're writing about before you alter it."
The writer's first ever novel, The Rum Diary, written in 1959, was only published in 1998.
His most recent work was Hey Rube: Blood Sport, the Bush Doctrine, and the Downward Spiral of Dumbness, a collection of his columns.
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Last edited by crappertay; 02-21-2005 at 10:17 AM.
Sales of Hunter S. Thompson's books, new and old, have surged since his death Sunday._
Thompson's suicide at age 67 was widely reported Monday and followed by numerous appreciations of his "gonzo" journalism in newspapers on Tuesday.
Online bookseller Amazon.com reports that the sales ranking of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which was published in 1972, soared from No. 1,412 before his death to as high as No. 12 Tuesday. On Wednesday it was No. 16.
Hey Rube, a collection of Thompson's columns for ESPN.com that was released last year, jumped from No. 4,124 to as high as No. 20 in Amazon's sales rankings, which are revised every hour. It was No. 39 Wednesday.
Also suddenly selling well: The Proud Highway, Fear and Loathing in America, Hell's Angels, Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail and the DVD of the movie of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
BarnesandNoble.com reports a similar surge; four of Thompson's books hit its top-100 sales list on Tuesday. Advance orders for the $300 illustrated and signed limited reissue of Thompson's 1983 The Curse of Lono hit No. 92. It's out May 28.
Barnes & Noble says Thompson was the most popular author among customers' online searches Monday.
"We see an immediate surge when there is a lot of media focus on a literary figure, famous politician or celebrity," Barnes & Noble vice president Bob Wietrak says of the Web site. "In our stores, it is a little different. ... If there is a new book out, it will build sales; and if there are numerous titles, those that have done best will get a pop. The surge is
Most disturbing yet. Obviously you're a little out of sorts if you're about to off yourself, but this is disgusting.
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Thompson Shot Himself While on Phone
Fri Feb 25,10:33 AM ET
ASPEN, Colo. - The widow of journalist Hunter S. Thompson said her husband killed himself while the two were talking on the phone.
"I was on the phone with him, he set the receiver down and he did it. I heard the clicking of the gun," Anita Thompson told the Aspen Daily News in Friday's editions.
She said her husband had asked her to come home from a health club so they could work on his weekly ESPN column — but instead of saying goodbye, he set the telephone down and shot himself.
Thompson said she heard a loud, muffled noise, but didn't know what had happened. "I was waiting for him to get back on the phone," she said.
Hunter Thompson, famous for "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and other works of New Journalism, shot himself in the head Sunday in the kitchen of his Aspen-area home. He was 67.
His son, daughter-in-law and 6-year-old grandson were in the house when the shooting occurred.
Anita Thompson, 32, said her husband had discussed killing himself in recent months and had been issuing verbal and written directives about what he wanted done with his body, his unpublished works and his assets.
His suicidal talk put a strain on their relationship, she said.
"He wanted to leave on top of his game. I wish I could have been more supportive of his decision," she said. "It was a problem for us."
Boston - If one of Hunter S. Thompson's last wishes comes true, the body of the late maverick journalist will be cremated this week and his ashes blasted from a cannon across his ranch in Woody Creek.
That will be the extent of Thompson's funeral, as outlined in his will, said George Tobia Jr., a Boston-based entertainment lawyer who has represented the author for the past 15 years.
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