Hunter to go out with a bang...

[Knockneed Man]

Report: Thompson requested loud send-off
By Troy Hooper/Aspen Daily News Staff Writer







It turns out the dean of gonzo isn't through holding class.

One of Hunter S. Thompson's last wishes was to have his cremated body blasted out of a cannon onto his property at Owl Farm, George Tobia Jr., an East Coast entertainment lawyer who has represented the author for the past 15 years, told the Boston Globe this week.

Friends of Thompson confirmed the wish to the Aspen Daily News on Tuesday, although one source said there are discussions under way that could be even "more exciting" than what the Boston Globe reported. Details, however, were unavailable.

Other pilot discussions are underway to commemorate his life's work.

Meanwhile, a commemoration for Thompson's close friends and family has been scheduled on March 5 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Belly Up nightclub in Aspen, a.k.a. Fat City - the name The Good Doctor initially prescribed to owner Michael Goldberg. A family spokesman said, "You know who you are" if you should attend.

A public celebration of Thompson's life is planned for early this summer.

No suicide note was found in the kitchen of Owl Farm where Thompson shot a .45-calliber into his head at about 5:42 p.m. Sunday and instantly died, according to Sheriff Bob Braudis, who said he had "zero" inkling his good friend was on the verge of killing himself in discussions the two had in recent weeks.

But in the Boston Globe report, Thompson's attorney said preparations were being made.

"This was definitely not spur of the moment," Tobia said. "He arranged to have things dealt with, and he wanted his family close by, but he didn't want anyone to know - he didn't want anyone to try to stop him."

During the last few years of his life, Thompson, 67, suffered from a mounting list of ailments that included breaking a leg in Hawaii during a trip to his hotel suite's mini-bar, coping with an artificial hip and spinal surgery. Even so, the "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" author remained mostly upbeat with his friends.

But, as his books and his neighbors can attest, Thompson's personality was volatile.

"He came up to the house a few times when I was sleeping and left things to scare me," said Grammy-winning musician Jimmy Ibbotson, who lives up the road from Owl Farm, and is known for creating his own wild stories. "He left what looked like a human foot in front of my door. It was fake, but I was scared to death."

As a budding writer, Thompson deeply admired Ernest Hemingway, who fatally shot himself in 1961 at his home in Ketchum, Idaho, at the age of 62. Hemingway's death clearly echoed in the minds of those familiar with Thompson's writings.

"The strength of his youth became rigidity as he grew older. He was an old, sick, and very troubled man," Thompson wrote in a piece entitled "What Drew Hemingway to Ketchum."

"The illusion of peace and contentment was not enough for him," wrote Thompson. "So, finally, and for what he must have thought the best of reasons, he ended it with a shotgun."

Thompson's body was cremated in Glenwood Springs on Tuesday. The day before, his son, Juan Thompson, 40, placed a CD of favorite songs that Hunter had edited and titled: "Where were you when the fun stopped?" in back of the hearse that carried him to Farnum Holt Funeral Home. The playlist included songs by Warren Zevon, a longtime friend and political ally of Thompson who died of cancer last year.

Zevon once discussed his relationship with Thompson to VH1.

"The first exchange we ever had was about 10 years ago, when my daughter and I arrived in Aspen. I said, 'Dr. Thompson, I've got the most terrible headache you can ever imagine. I don't know what to do at this altitude.' He said, 'Acid.'"

[SquawMan]

Hunter Thompson Widow Tells AP of Send-Off
================================================== =====
By DAN ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

(08-16) 1814 PDT Woody Creek, Colo. (AP) --

A hand-scrawled note on the refrigerator in Hunter S. Thompson's kitchen says, "Never call 911/Never/This means you/HST." Over the sink, a snapshot shows the famously reckless father of Gonzo journalism nuzzling a tiny kitten.

This room, jammed with cooking utensils, writing mementos and a giant TV, is where Thompson wrote some of the acerbic books and articles that made him an American treasure in the late 1960s and early '70s. It was here that he held court with friends and admirers. It is also where he shot himself to death six months ago at age 67.



The kitchen remains a center of Thompson's still-swirling universe as family and friends wrap up plans to blast his ashes out of a 150-foot-tall monument behind the house at Owl Farm this Saturday. It's what he wanted.

"No crying, no tears, only celebration," Thompson's widow, Anita, said during a 2 1/2-hour interview with The Associated Press at the home and her makeshift office, providing a rare glimpse into the writer's world.



"He wanted people to celebrate," she said. "He envisioned it to be a beautiful party. The most amazing people would be there. His friends would celebrate his life. And he was even specific that there would be clinking of ice and whisky."

The monument towers over a field between the home and a tree-covered red rock canyon wall. It is shrouded in gray and blue tarpaulins that ripple in the wind and it will not be unveiled until Saturday. It is modeled after Thompson's Gonzo logo: a clenched fist, made symmetrical with the addition of a second thumb, perched atop a dagger.

Anita Thompson said Saturday will include some reminiscence, readings from Thompson's work and performances by both Lyle Lovett and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. About 250 people were invited, including Thompson's longtime illustrator, Ralph Steadman, and actors Sean Penn and Johnny Depp, close friends of the writer.

Depp, who portrayed Thompson in the 1998 movie version of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," is financing much of the send-off, Anita Thompson said. She said she doesn't know the total cost and said others have offered to chip in.

"Everybody's bringing what they have to offer," she said.

The event is private and security will be tight. David Meeker of Specialized Protective Services in Aspen would say only that the precautions will be more elaborate than for any similar-sized event he has ever protected. The narrow roads that thread the canyon will remain open, but Pitkin County deputies will bar anyone from stopping to watch from outside the property, Anita Thompson said. Sheriff Bob Braudis, a friend of Thompson, did not return a call.

After Saturday, the monument will be taken down. Anita Thompson said it may be put up elsewhere, but she's not sure. Thompson's son, Juan, did not return calls seeking comment.

Thompson's suicide ended a storied career that included landmark works of new journalism such as "Hells Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs," published in 1966, 1971's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream" and "Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72."

He built a public persona as a drug-fueled risk-taker, but friends and family say that masked the Kentucky-born writer's true nature — a Southern gentleman and meticulous craftsman who lived and wrote at Owl Farm from the late 1960s until his death. The telephone-answering machine still barks at callers with Thompson's voice, mechanically commanding them to "Please. Leave. A message."

Anita Thompson, 32, who married the writer in April 2003, said she plans to protect and promote her husband's legacy.

"I'll be working for Hunter the rest of my life. I know that. I made that commitment, and I'm honored that I can," she said.

At least three new books are planned, including the third volume of his letters, a collection of unpublished short stories and an unfinished novel, "Polo is My Life." She is seeking a permanent home for Thompson's archive, which fills some 1,200 boxes now stored in a vault off the property. Plans are in the works for a Hunter Thompson Foundation to help young people his widow describes as unfairly ensnared in the criminal justice system.

She also plans what she calls "a small book of wisdom" based on things her husband told her.

"'Never think you're the smartest one in the room. And never think you're the dumbest one in the room.' Little things like that," she said.

Leaning against a sun-drenched woodpile at Owl Farm, she lifted a large green gemstone hanging from a small chain around her neck. It used to belong to her husband.

"He got this in Saigon. He believed this is why he lived so long," she said. He took it off only a handful of times, when he underwent surgery or to briefly place it around her neck.

[Woodsy]

David Meeker of Specialized Protective Services in Aspen would say only that the precautions will be more elaborate than for any similar-sized event he has ever protected.

you have no idea how serious a statement that is

glad they were able to pull this off.

[Free Range Lobster]

4 more books?
christ!

[lemon boy]

heh-

I was in a little local gunshop/gunsmith's a couple of weeks ago where they were doing a safety/function check on the (a) cannon for the event.

[KevinDineen]

If this were at all legible, you'd see that it's our Powder to the People HST tribute shirt, conceived and prototypes produced before he died. The Gonzo knife has been tweaked to say Powder, and the fist is clutching a snowflake instead of a Peyote pod. Underneath it reads "it never got deep enough for me" --the skier's magazine.





check 'em here. Weav is working on a new image.

https://store.primediamags.com/shop/...ct?pm_id=10542

[fridge]

the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

Now it's a party.

[aspenskibum]

I wasn't too suprised when i heard of Hunter's suicide. Anyone who has seen him in recent years knows he was someone who obviously had about ten too many acid trips, any was at times barely coherent, but hey, those that burn brightest burn fastest.
I'm not %100 positive, but i think i remember reading in one of the aspen papers, that Hunter wanted the public allowed to come watch his sendoff, which they aren't allowing. I think he would have liked the big free for all that his family is afraid, with good reason, would ensue. Regardless, the cannon is huge, you can see it from highway 82, a ways away, a clear landmark as to where is "compound" is, which i never took the time to find out. But what better memorial service could a man like that possibly have? A giant fucking cannon? The thing is well over a hundred feet tall. Seriously, it sums up his life and who he was perfectly. A gonzo funeral for sure. Well heres wishing him a merry journy striaght to hell, which is sure where he'd want to be anyway, cus the music in heaven would just suck. And johnny depp is paying for it all, supossedly the cannon alone cost several million. I'll tip my hat to depp too.

[freshie247]

Right on Jonny Depp! I disagree with your music theory,Thompson was a righteous man.I bet the music in Hell Sucks smelly ass! Why would Hunter want to listen Rob Zombie,Brittany Spears ,or do the macarena in perpetuity in Hell!

[KevinDineen]

Here's a better shot of the PTTP shirt, just got uploaded: