“Too weird to live, too rare to die. God’s own prototype.”
While you may have watched Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Rum Diaries, Gonzo, Buy the Ticket Take the Ride, Where the Buffalo Roam just to name a few movies Thompson wrote, however, he was more famous for his crazy lifestyle, his daily drug consumption that was enough for a complete town and his love of blasting things!
ScreenBinge takes a look into the lifestyle of Hunter Stockton Thompson (July eighteen, 1937 – February twenty, 2005) was an American journalist as well as author, as well as the founding father of the gonzo journalism movement. His film Fear and Loathing (1998) is still among the top 5 movies shot in Las Vegas. Even though he might Americas best screen writer, his work still lives of with the same fury and gut!
He was first noticed for his work in Hell’s Angels (1967), a guide for which he himself went on and lived with the riders of the Angels motorcycle gang so that he could produce a firsthand account of the gang, its members and his experiences with the members and what really the gang was about.
Hunter is famous for writing first-hand publications, be it Fear and Loathing in Los Vegas, Buy the Ticket Take the Ride, or Where the Buffalo Roam to mention a few. However what separated Hunter from the rest of the writers was his extreme exaggeration of true events, although his reporting was based on facts, there was always this crazy mixture of fiction and facts and his very straight forward wordings that most writers would be shy to use.
In real terms, Hunter spoke his mind, his words, the way they came to him. In fact, it is also claimed that Hunter was the first to speak about DMT and chemical that is produced in the area known as the third eye. In one of his writings, he spoke how devils had introduced him to it, even though there’s been a lot of research on DMT, but back then no one spoke of it but Hunter.
It was these demonic deviant characteristics that set Hunter totally apart from the rest in his field. In fact he created his own field, he wasn’t an everyday conventional writer, he had made a ground where only his horse ran and the audience applauded. Those who understood the depth of Hunters psychology were simply baffled and those who did not, were disgusted. One of his most famous quotes is, “when the going gets weird the weird go pro.”
It is clear Hunter S Thompson was more than comfortable and confident with the lifestyle he had.
Hunter S. Thompson, way of making his pen work were quite different. Instead of going on a walk or traveling to get his writing started, he had a very different routine.
Jean Carroll mentioned the daily routine of S. Thompson in the first chapter of her book in 1994. HUNTER: The Savage and strange Life of Hunter S. Thompson, the book still manages to be an item of fascination, horror, and awe even today.
Here is a transcription
- 3:00 p.m. rise
- 3:05 Chivas Regal with the morning papers, Dunhills
- 3:45 cocaine
- 3:50 another glass of Chivas, Dunhill
- 4:05 first cup of coffee, Dunhill
- 4:15 cocaine
- 4:16 orange juice, Dunhill
- 4:30 cocaine
- 4:54 cocaine
- 5:05 cocaine
- 5:11 coffee, Dunhills
- 5:30 more ice in the Chivas
- 5:45 cocaine, etc., etc.
- 6:00 grass to take the edge off the day
- 7:05 Woody Creek Tavern for lunch-Heineken, two margaritas, coleslaw, a taco salad, a double order of fried onion rings, carrot cake, ice cream, a bean fritter, Dunhills, another Heineken, cocaine, and for the ride home, a snow cone (a glass of shredded ice over which is poured three or four jiggers of Chivas)
- 9:00 starts snorting cocaine seriously
- 10:00 drops acid
- 11:00 Chartreuse, cocaine, grass
- 11:30 cocaine, etc, etc.
- 12:00 midnight, Hunter S. Thompson is ready to write
- 12:05-6:00 a.m. Chartreuse, cocaine, grass, Chivas, coffee, Heineken, clove cigarettes, grapefruit, Dunhills, orange juice, gin, continuous pornographic movies.
- 6:00 the hot tub-champagne, Dove Bars, fettuccine Alfredo
- 8:00 Halcyon
- 8:20 sleep
Hunter’s crazy lifestyle, his drug and alcohol addiction, and his fascination to blow up things definitely puts him on the list of one of craziest celebrity lifestyle, in fact, the craziest! It is also reported that on a very high dose of LSD Hunter went on and bought a brand new Cadillac, crashed it, came out, and started walking as nothing had happened.
One of his most famous quotes is, “I hate to advocate insanity, violence, alcohol, or drugs to anybody, though they have consistently worked for me.”
After living a life on his own terms for 67 years, Hunter S Thompson committed suicide. His brief suicide letter stated, “No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy. No Fun – for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old age. Relax – This won’t hurt.”
A statement prior to his suicide also indicated that he had the tendencies to take his life on his own will, he said “I would feel real trapped in this life if I didn’t know I could commit suicide at any time.”
Hunter’s death wish was also quite unusual, due to his fascination with bombs and blasting things, his ashes were fired from a fist shaped cannon. The funeral costed around $3 Million and was paid for by Johnny Depp. The two became close during the filming of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and liked each other’s company.
Johnny Depp stated in an interview regarding the funeral stated, “All I am doing is actually attempting to make certain the final wish of his will come true. I only want to send the pal of mine through the manner in which he really wants to go out.”
The Funeral was privately held and around 300 people attended it, including many influential senators, Television personalities, celebrities, friends, and family.
