Today marks the 15th anniversary of the death of Hunter S. Thompson, author of Hell’s Angels, “The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved,” Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Curse of Lono, and other equally harrowing and inimitable gonzo-journalistic views of the American scene. Here follow the posts I’ve written about Thompson and his work for Open Culture over the past eight years:
- The Crazy Never Die: Hunter S. Thompson in Rare 1988 Documentary (NSFW)
- Fear and Loathing on the Road to Hollywood: The BBC’s 1978 Portrait of Hunter S. Thompson (full video here)
- Hear a Six-Hour Mix Tape of Hunter S. Thompson’s Favorite Music & the Songs Name-Checked in His Gonzo Journalism
- Hear the 10 Best Albums of the 1960s as Selected by Hunter S. Thompson
- How Hunter S. Thompson Gave Birth to Gonzo Journalism: Short Film Revisits Thompson’s Seminal 1970 Piece on the Kentucky Derby
- How Hunter S. Thompson — and Psilocybin — Influenced the Art of Ralph Steadman, Creating the “Gonzo” Style
- Hunter S. Thompson Chillingly Predicts the Future, Telling Studs Terkel About the Coming Revenge of the Economically & Technologically “Obsolete” (1967)
- Hunter S. Thompson Gets in a Gunfight with His Neighbor & Dispenses Political Wisdom: “In a Democracy, You Have to Be a Player”
- Hunter S. Thompson and Franz Kafka Inspire Animation for a Bookstore Benefiting Oxfam
- Hunter S. Thompson’s Conspiratorial 9/11 Interview: “The Public Version of the News is Never Really What Happened”
- Hunter S. Thompson Writes a Blistering, Over-the-Top Letter to Anthony Burgess (1973)
- Jack Kerouac’s Poetry & Prose Read/Performed by 20 Icons: Hunter S. Thompson, Patti Smith, William S. Burroughs, Johnny Depp & More
- The Outsiders: Lou Reed, Hunter S. Thompson, and Frank Zappa Reveal Themselves in Captivatingly Animated Interviews
- Playing Golf on LSD With Hunter S. Thompson: Esquire Editor Remembers the Oddest Game of Golf
- Read 11 Free Articles by Hunter S. Thompson That Span His Gonzo Journalist Career (1965-2005)
You’ll find much more about Thompson in the site’s archives. You can also find a selection of some of my other favorite posts in the Open Culture section of my essays page.