The plan to honor Hunter S. Thompson, who shot himself in February, will involve a 150-foot tower – designed to look like Thompson’s “gonzo fist” emblem – from the top of which said cannon will shoot Thompson’s ashes all over his ranch near Aspen, Colo. And the invitation-only Aug. 20 ceremony is all thanks to money put up by Johnny Depp, who portrayed the journalist in the film version of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Event producer Jon Equis said that other than the cannon thing, the event will have “spoken-word and live entertainment.”
Philly Inquirer
:::flip:::
A lot of aspiring journalists have tried to imitate Hunter’s style, but my advice is don’t bother. Everything Hunter did in life, and now in death, should be accompanied by a warning: “Do not try this at home.”
THOMPSON: Probably mescaline and mushrooms: That’s a genuine high. It’s not just an up — you know, like speed, which is really just a motor high. When you get into psychedelics like mescaline and mushrooms, it’s a very clear kind of high, an interior high. But really, when you’re dealing with psychedelics, there’s only one king drug, when you get down to it, and that’s acid. About twice a year you should blow your fucking tubes out with a tremendous hit of really good acid. Take 72 hours and just go completely amuck, break it all down.
“In Washington, the truth is never told in daylight hours or across a desk. If you catch people when they’re very tired or drunk or weak, you can get some answers. You have to wear the bastards down.” -Hunter S. Thompson (1974)
I thought they’d already gathered to honor HST. The first day of Arianna’s blog, John Cusack posted about going to some event at HST’s ranch.
they had a memorial of sorts. But this is Hunter’s wish. He wanted his ashes to be blown out of a cannon. I knew about that wish even before he died.
He was one of a kind.
… he ask Ralph Steadman, his illustrator, to design it? I think I read that. Steadman wrote a piece in the Guardian which was very good.
Thanks for keeping us posted on the HST news.
Um, I don’t know about that. There’s a whole bunch of pundits I’d like to see taking that advice.
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. Stuck in my head 30 years ago. Can’t shake it. Nor the images of rampant corruption in “Campaign Trail”; violence in “Hell’s Angels”; assassination in “Aztlan”; and the total comedy of “Las Vegas”.
As your attorney, I advise you to remember these Words To Live By:
Yesterday’s Weirdness Is Tomorrow’s Reason Why
HST explains it all.