[Howlin]

Not since the death of Princess Diana has so much worshipful ink been spilled on the occasion of a mere mortal's passing.

HUH?

[Bluchers Elephant]

Princess Diana was a mere mortal. She died, somewhat tragically. The English speaking world spent the next month or so producing mournful eulogies and tributes that, if you took them on face value, would make you believe that Diana was the most compassionate person, the most giving person, the most spiritual person _ever_ to walk this earth. Elton John even rewrote a quite classic piece of music, improved it not a dot, and proceeded to break records with its sales. I'm not saying that Diana wasn't a good person who deserved to be mourned, but we went a little over the top.
Similarly with Hunter S. Thompson.
My personal note on the topic to demonstrate the excessive amount of press coverage would be to compare the flood of articles and obits for HST to the amount that we gave Reagan. (make sure you check the press for the entire English speaking world, not just America(I'm Australian and I read a fair swag of American and English news sources. YMMV)). Then make a mental comparison of the significance of the two men.

[ClintonBeGone]

This is the passage I was referring to:

"Who cared that for years he had been a largely burned-out case, more of a circus act than a serious writer, reveling in adolescent stunts with firearms, alcohol, narcotics -- the predictable paraphernalia of the self-styled outlaw who wowed the chattering classes and other assorted rubes and poseurs long after his appeal had worn off for almost everybody else?"