Goodbye, Dr. Gonzo

I just learned that one of my literary heroes, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, is dead tonight by his own hand. Apparently Dr. Thompson, the man who single-handedly created Gonzo Journalism, shot himself in the head at his home near Aspen, Colorado sometime Sunday. He was 67 years old.

Damn. Damn damn god-fucking-damn.

I remember reading his books "The Hells Angels" and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" when I was a teenager, and thinking then that I had never read anything like them in my life, and probably never would again. Fear and Loathing, especially, had me smiling, cackling to myself and laughing out loud through page after page. "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail" was by far the best account of the 1972 re-election of the evil Dick Nixon; and his writings for Rolling Stone and later, the SF Examiner and ESPN online were small gems not to be missed. America has truly lost a unique voice, an irascible, curmudgeonly genius who will be missed for many a long year.

The only way this turns out all right is if, sometime in early 2006, Thompson's publisher comes out with "Fear and Loathing in the Afterlife." We can only hope.