I knew there was a reason I took off work today, and I suddenly feel the need to purchase a bottle of rum. I guess he was serious about not being able to take another 4 years of George W. He threatened many times to kill himself when Nixon beat McGovern.

Rest in peace, Dr. Thompson.

(p.s. I think The Rum Diaries is headed to the big screen soon.)

:(

Very, very sad, if somewhat inevitable.
His like may never be seen again.

I saw him speak about 12 yrs ago at the University of Kansas. I'm not sure who was more disappointed: him or me. His drug persona had attracted a bunch of idiots to the audience and they could care less about his deeper comments, they just wanted a shock jock. He tried for a while, then abruptly walked off when he realized he couldn't overcome the shallowness of the exchange.

It's noteworthy. However, I must point out that history is littered with intelligent iconoclasts including:

WC Fields
Lewis Carol
Jack Kerouac
F. Scott Fitzgerald
E. Hemmingway
Timothy Leary

to name a few. Given what this society is, I'm sure we'll see more cynicism and non-conformity. How could it be otherwise when there is a disenfranchising culture like ours?

Two days ago, Fear and Loathing Las Vegas was on cable.

I watched it again and remembered how good that movie was. I mentioned to a friend the next day. Then the day after the news came. She looked at the timeline and wondered if we were talking about him at the same time he was taking his life.

Intelligent iconoclasts, sure, they'll be lots of them. (Not enough, mind you, but lots).

On the other hand, crazed, drug-impervious, hallucinatory, brilliant political analysts with a powerful command of blistering invective, a talent for infiltrating secretive organizations AND access to a national journalistic forum -- these, I think, will be few and far between.