"A Word to the Wise is Infuriating"

Hunter Thompson is dead.

The effect that the good Doctor had on my life is immeasurable. It is likely that without Hunter, I would be a college graduate, in a good position with a good company, have a happy marriage, and essentially be an entirely different person.

I would also undoubtedly be a more boring, less creative person.

I read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in my sophomore year in college. I was never the same. Many people point to On the Road as their "crossroads" book. I liked Kerouac as much as the next guy, but Thompson was REAL. Terrifyingly so.

If I am sorry for anything, it is that Hunter Thompson is going to be remembered in the way that he was portrayed by Johnny Depp in the Terry Gilliam film version of F & L. Now Depp did a fine job, and I'm a fan of the film. Nonetheless, it leaves the impression that Thompson was some sort of cartoon. Hunter Thompson was a character, but he was no caricature.

The world stopped spinning yesterday for a brief moment, and someone got off. We are all a bit diminished for his leaving.

Goodbye, Doc. See you in hell.