Hunter S. Thompson.

It has come to my attention that Hunter S. Thompson has died. Considering the kind of man he was in life (at least, going by his writing), the manner in which he has departed us seems at odds with his persona. Then again, maybe it wasn't, as Old Age is the one thing that would have got on top of him.

I still think this 'better to burn out than fade away' shit is bollocks though, but I was always able to take it or leave it.

I read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas years ago (my brother bought it, and I subsequently nicked it off him, before buying my own copy) and for me it was memorable for the fact that it mentioned drugs that, at the time of reading, I didn't even know existed. That he never really wrote much about the event he had been sent to cover just sailed over my head (Was it a car rally? The fact that I can't remember says it all), and instead I just enjoyed the druggy manic careering from here to there to everywhere. I subsequently filed him under 'Must check out some more of his stuff' but never really got around to any more of his books. Maybe now is the time.

I always liked the idea of what he did in Fear and Loathing though. It wasn't a bad idea at all.