

Lost Stories from Hunter S. Thompson's Stint as a Foreign Correspondent - Thevet
http://www.openculture.com/2015/06/read-18-lost-stories-from-hunter-s-thompsons-forgotten-stint-as-a-foreign-correspondent.html

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dudurocha
One other funny story about him is that he was sent to cover the historical
"Rumble in the Jungle" Muhammad Ali vs Frasier fight but he "chose to float in
his hotel pool, a bottle of hooch in hand, while the great fight took place,
and he was unable to file anything."

Source:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rumble_in_the_Jungle#React...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rumble_in_the_Jungle#Reactions)

~~~
yes_or_gnome
Having spent a lot of my youth in Louisville, I admire both men. For those
that don't know, both Hunter and Ali come from Louisville. Both men had
troubled youth, but that's about where the similarities end.

Hunter was forced into the military to avoid jail time and, after that, went
to Columbia (TIL, apparently, he only audited classes), and to write Hell's
Angels, etc.

Ali (Cassius Clay) was several years younger than Hunter, and grew up half a
city away ([https://goo.gl/maps/f76SJ](https://goo.gl/maps/f76SJ)). But, under
similar, difficult circumstances. Found boxing at 12yo because he wanted to
beat up a kid for stealing his bike.

I know that Hunter S. Thompson was a big fan of boxing (and football), and
that he had stated Ali as a hero of his. But, I feel that it's sad and
unfortunate to read something like this. It seems that Hunter spent a lot of
his middle years floating in a pool. It really wasn't until they made the
movie Fear and Loathing that he had a resurgence.

I can only look backwards through documentaries and commentary, but I find it
quite surprising that the two only met once for an interview. Hunter was
embarrassed that Ali didn't know who he was;
[http://bloguin.com/queensberryrules/2014-articles/when-
hunte...](http://bloguin.com/queensberryrules/2014-articles/when-hunter-met-
muhammad.html). It just seems odd that these two people that were hugely
influential (Ali more-so) during the 60s and 70s for civil rights and similar
political beliefs, that they never actually met one another.

------
Zelphyr
As an aside, can someone explain the appeal of Hunter S. Thompson. I'm sure he
was an amazing writer but was that it? Because, from my understanding, he was
an otherwise terrible person.

~~~
angersock
Why do you understand him to be an otherwise terrible person?

Who'd he hurt? Who did he cause harm?

~~~
Zelphyr
I saw a documentary on him--can't recall the title--which seemed to generally
have a positive take on him but I came away thinking he was just awful.

He hurt his ex-wife and child by basically being a deadbeat father. And then
dictated in his will that money be spent on a giant fist monument on his
property. Money that could have, in my opinion, been put to better use by his
family.

He apparently lied about candidates during the (I think?) 1972 Presidential
campaign simply because he didn't like them. And by lies I mean he reported
them as facts in the publication he was writing for. (come to think of it, I'm
surprised that publication didn't fact-check him) Lies which affected the
candidates negatively that might not have otherwise had his reporting been
accurate.

In general he just seems to have a cult of personality where so many people
like him simply because others do, because its the cool thing to do, much like
they do with Che Guevara, without acknowledging the many flawed aspects of his
character.

To those down-voting me, fine, I'll take your down-votes. If I'm wrong, I'll
gladly stand corrected. But at least answer my original question instead of
down-voting because you disagree with me. What is it you like about him?

~~~
yes_or_gnome
I'll give you an up vote because it's a fair question. (And, I don't see any
reason why someone would down vote.) I don't want to spin my appreciation for
Hunter, but I'll provide you some articles. If you want some interesting
reads, his most influential books are (pre-gonzo) 'Hell's Angels', 'Fear and
Loathing in Las Vegas', 'Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72', and,
much later, 'Kingdom of Fear'.

'Campaign Trail 72' is about the antics at the 72 Democratic Convention to get
George McGovern the party's nomination. He was a longshot, but many young
writers (including Hunter) started a movement to get him nominated; which
succeeded. A lot of people thought that Nixon was undefeatable that year, but
things got interesting after the youth movement behind McGovern.
Unfortunately, his campaign failed miserably after his running mate, Thomas
Eagleton, revealed that he underwent electric shock therapy years earlier. I
think that many people would qualify McGovern as the first progressive
democrat to be nominated, but, TBH, I don't know much about him, or his
campaign, other than what I've already told you.

The other books don't need any introduction, from me, because you can easily
find out a lot about them.

Articles by Hunter (personally selected):

"The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Deprived", notable for his first meeting
with Ralph Steadman. [1]: [http://grantland.com/features/looking-back-hunter-
s-thompson...](http://grantland.com/features/looking-back-hunter-s-thompson-
classic-story-kentucky-derby/)

"He was a Crook" Obituary to Richard Nixon [2]:
[http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1994/07/he-
was-a...](http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1994/07/he-was-a-
crook/308699/)

... Somewhere there is an article about Hunter talking about his only
conversation with Nixon. They talked about football. Both men hated each
other, but Nixon had no idea who he was talking to at the time. Those events
are fictionalized in the movie 'Where the Buffalo Roam' starring Bill Murray
as Hunter.

"Fear and Loathing in America" \- Published September 12th, 2001 [3]:
[http://proxy.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?id=1250751](http://proxy.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?id=1250751)

"Don't you dare cancel football" \- [4]:
[http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=thompson/040...](http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=thompson/040727)

"Shotgun Golf with Bill Murray" \- His last article, submitted hours before
his suicide. [5]:
[http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?id=1992213](http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?id=1992213)

'Hey Rube, Page 2' Archive [6]: [http://totallygonzo.org/gonzowriting/hst-hey-
rube-espn-page-...](http://totallygonzo.org/gonzowriting/hst-hey-rube-espn-
page-2/)

Edit: As for the documentary that you watched, it was likely 'Gonzo: The Life
and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson' which was produced by his son, Juan, and
narrated by Johnny Depp. As far as his family life, he raised his son, and
remained friends with his first wife. I don't know the facts behind the abuse
claims, but he was certainly a chaotic person. So, I would imagine he was a
difficult person to be around.

Edit2: Fixed the documentary mentioned in the first edit, I had stated it was
'Buy the ticket, take the ride'.

