Death of a Comic (W.F.B. on Hunter S. Thompson)

TownHall ^ | 3/1/05 | WIlliam F. Buckley, Jr.

[AZ_Cowboy]

If what was before the house was just the formal news bulletin, a famous person who had left Earth for other bournes, then OK, let him go with conventional solemnities. I once attended funeral services at which the rabbi didn't remember the name of the deceased, so that he mourned the passage of Priscilla, remarking the good she had left behind in her lifetime -- never mind that the lady who lay in the coffin was called Jane; never mind, the incantations were generic.

But Hunter Thompson would never be confused with anyone else, and when his wife was led through the police cordon to his room, she reported to the press that "he did it (fired the .45-caliber pistol) in his mouth," leaving "his face beautiful. It was not grisly or gruesome by any means. He lived a beautiful life."

He didn't. What he did do was inspire devotional encomiums from people who included blood relatives (my son), and superstar mentors (Tom Wolfe). ...

[AZ_Cowboy]

The punchline: "One can be sorry that Hunter Thompson died as he did, but not sorry, surely, that he stopped writing."

I too am somewhat curious as to why people are paying such homage to Thompson. Seems like a total whackjob to me.

[pissant]

Hunter Thompson was and is worthless.

[anniegetyourgun]

Thompson was truly a pathetic figure.

[Mr. Mojo]

Consider one entire paragraph (by HST) on Richard Nixon. "For years I've regarded (Nixon's) very existence as a monument to all the rancid genes and broken chromosomes that corrupt the possibilities of the American Dream; he was a foul caricature of himself, a man with no soul

Even Richard Nixon has got soul.
Even Richard Nixon has got it -- soul.

- Neil Young ("Campaigner")

[Semper Paratus]

Hunter Thompson elicited the same kind of admiration one would feel for a streaker at Queen Victoria's funeral.

HST and WFB: I cannot imagine a more perfect polar opposite pair.

[Servant of the 9]

I too am somewhat curious as to why people are paying such homage to Thompson. Seems like a total whackjob to me.

That's because people keep trying to take him seriously. He was John Belushi's "Animal House" not Laurence Olivier's "Hamlet".

So9

[Calusa]

People who publish books will excrete someone like HST into literature just to project their first ammendment enabled arrogance and total domination of our society. Does anybody remember a 'book' circa 1970 entitled 'The Strawberry Statement'. That was the new 'Catcher in the Rye'. My first impression is that the author must'a had a relative in the publishing business. And I gotta say back then I was all about the counter culture. But can anybody tell what either of those books was about?

[Mr. Mojo]

"Hunter Thompson elicited the same kind of admiration one would feel for a streaker at Queen Victoria's funeral."

WFB resurrecting a very old quote (of his).

...and a good one.

[Pompah]

WFB, (Or Bullseye Bill as I like to call him) nailed everything you needed to know about "Dr.Thompson" with his closeing line in this piece.

Laugh Out Loud. The last Sorry canceled out all of the others.