Happy 70th Birthday to Hunter S. Thompson

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Wed Jul 18, 2007 at 08:36:09 PM EST
Tags: hunter S. thompson, HST (all tags)

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Hunter S. Thompson's 70th birthday is today. His wife Anita shares her thoughts.

There's a birthday party tonight at Owl Farm for Hunter,which I'm missing because I have court here in Denver tomorrow. Owl Farm parties are always a great time and Hunter's spirit is right at hand.

(Update: Looks like the party didn't happen, but I'm told a small group assembled to toast Hunter and they did shoot a cannon or two.)

Saturday, the Aspen Daily News will run a commemorative issue for Hunter, with Anita as the paper's guest editor. Ralph Steadman will grace the cover and Walter Isaacson and others will be contributors. Anita writes:

I’ll be including a cut-out card to put in your wallet with the things to do and not do while talking to the police.

The timing of the special edition is not just for Hunter's birthday, but for the Aspen Institute Symposium on Hunter's writings, Politics, Truth and Justice, to be held Saturday night. Hunter's son Juan has done a great job of putting it together.

More....

Politics, Truth and Justice: The Writings of Hunter S. Thompson

Please join the Aspen Institute at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday July 21 for a panel discussion about Hunter S. Thompson with presidential historian and writer Doug Brinkley, and Aspen Institute President and CEO Walter Isaacson. The panel will discuss the enduring qualities of Thompson’s writing, both in terms of content and style, and will examine how these qualities influenced journalism, literature, and politics.

Here's a video I made of Jimmy Ibbotson, The Bard of Woody Creek, singing "Welcome to Owl Farm" at a NORML lawyer party there last month.

Happy Birthday, Hunter. We miss you.

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Happy 70th Birthday to Hunter S. Thompson | 5 comments (5 topical)

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My favorite HST quote: (5.00 / 1) (#5)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Jul 19, 2007 at 06:34:04 PM EST

"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."

And for those who know the music biz know his description is not fanciful. By any means.

I bow with gratitude and respect... (none / 0) (#1)
by Aaron on Wed Jul 18, 2007 at 10:50:25 PM EST

...to the good doctor, for all you bestowed upon us, the last remnants of the still struggling doomed generation.

Thank you Hunter, for giving the high-powered mutants the strength to keep on fighting, and the will to go on making the bastards pay.

You are loved and remembered, always.

nice (none / 0) (#2)
by Sumner on Wed Jul 18, 2007 at 11:02:16 PM EST

Thank you for the links and for the link to your video, Jeralyn. Other HST videos, linked from the YouTube menu to the right of your video, were also well worth watching.

a raging a*****e (none / 0) (#3)
by baba durag on Thu Jul 19, 2007 at 02:38:30 AM EST

and I miss the h**l out of him. I'll be thinking of him tomorrow.

Thanks for the post, info and links, Jeralyn.

I remember well the moment (none / 0) (#4)
by Repack Rider on Thu Jul 19, 2007 at 09:48:03 AM EST

When I read the line about Hunter's attorney hurling into his shoes in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I spent the next ten minutes rolling on the floor.

And a character I had shared an adventure during a Grateful Dead tour with turned up terrorizing a campaign train in Fear and Loathing on th Campaign Trail.

HST was the closest our generation came to having another Mark Twain.