Hunter S. Thompson in the Media

I followed the coverage of Hunter S. Thompson’s suicide the past week and can’t say that
a) I am surprised by the event or
b) the coverage of it.

My only exposure to his work is his column on ESPN’s Page 2 since the subject generally was short-term investing. Over time his columns were as much about politics as they were about wagering. If he had an account at Tradesports.com investing on politics, that may have been a factor in his demise. His writing was entertaining, but its generation seemed to require chemical consumption, alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs. I can’t see how that should be glorified. I think the number of glorification columns regarding his work and life is telling. Yes, it’s a great to celebrate constant intoxication and disregard for the rules of society. One thing that resonates in my mind is his prediction (in agreement w/ the MSM) that the current Democratic Party platform is a winning one.

HST 11/2/04: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=thompson/041102

SF Chronicle 2/26/05: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/02/27/INGLPBGC6S1.DTL