23 | Hunter S. Thompson: Freak Power in the Rockies
This week, we salute Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, founder of Gonzo Journalism
In the February 15, 1973, issue of Rolling Stone, Thompson said: "If I'd written the truth I knew for the past ten years, about 600 people—including me—would be rotting in prison cells from Rio to Seattle. Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism."
He also wrote: “Music has always been a matter of Energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel. I have always needed Fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio.”
And this: “when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro .”
Selected works of Gonzo Journalism
Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (1967)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971)
Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72 (1973)
The Great Shark Hunt (1979)
Selected movies and documentaries
Where the Buffalo Roam (1980)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride: Hunter S. Thompson on Film (2006)
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (2008)
Freak Power: The Ballot or the Bomb (2020)
Music and image credits:
Gonzo Fist by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
Aspen lake image by Abhay Bharadwaj from Pixabay
Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud
Music promoted by free-stock-music.com
Maple Leaf image by Vectoro Artworks from Vecteezy
Perforated steel image by YuriyC from VectorStock