Everyone’s probably seen the news that Hunter S. Thompson committed suicide on Sunday. Thompson was one of those writers who changed my consciousness at at early age–as one of the leading practicioners of the “new” journalism, he showed me what non-fiction writing could do at a time when I was just starting to put words to paper.
His gonzo journalism also provided huge entertainment value–to me, a kid from the suburbs, this far-out character’s brilliant writing suggested there was a lot I had to learn–if only I made the effort to look outside the box.
RIP. Condolences, everyone.