When Sartre looked over the edge, he saw the abyss. When Hunter S. Thompson looked over the edge, he laughed. Now, sadly, he has jumped. Though Thompson will be best remembered with a cigarette holder clenched between his teeth, aviator sunglasses on and a drink in hand, he was far more than a paranoid, gun-loving, drug addict. Thompson was one of the founders of modern journalism, a cultural icon whose tireless chronicle of the life and death of the American Dream revolutionized reporting.
Thompson transformed journalism from mundane to thrilling. His penchant for inserting himself into the story changed the way journalists approach their craft to this day. Thompson realized that sometimes the story exists not in the event itself but in its observation. He eschewed objective reporting, yet his subjectivity often allowed for more candid, truthful stories. His style made journalism accessible and enjoyable, his articles a mirror of reality rather than a recitation of fact. One of the men he covered during the 1972 Presidential campaign called his work “the most accurate and least factual” of all reporters.
Thompson was his generation’s Don Quixote, unflinchingly tilting at the windmills of American life. Whether following the 1972 presidential campaign or a Las Vegas motorbike race, Thompson was relentless in his quest to get the whole story and undaunted by setbacks or potential failure. Unlike many of his contemporaries, who tackled and exposed well-known problems, Thompson exposed new vices, introducing America to fear and loathing. While writers like Tom Wolfe satirized social constructs like greed and the abuse of power, Thompson’s enemies were tangible. He took on Nixon, Humphrey, Bush, the town of Aspen, the American justice system and anything else with which he disagreed. He was famously consistent in his attacks, once saying, “I kicked Nixon when he was up, and I’ll kick him when he’s down.”
Thompson was also a chronicler of Americana, depicting a country decaying from corruption and fear, to be saved only by the “too much fun club.” He captured the spirit of a generation with his writing, inspiring both nostalgia for the past and a determination to save America from its dismal fate. He motivated countless readers to embrace the renegade, gonzo search for the American Dream.
In 1961, Ernest Hemingway killed himself with a shotgun blast to the head. His death marked the end of an era-gone were the days of the expatriates who had chronicled American life for decades. For those of Thompson’s generation, his death marks the end of a long fight against the system: Out with gonzo journalism and wild journeys into the depths of the American spirit, in with conservatism. For those of our generation, Thompson’s death marks the loss of an idol, a hero and an unlikely role model.
