From wiki: Funeral
On August 20, 2005, in a private ceremony, Thompson's ashes were fired from a cannon atop a 153-foot tower of his own design (in the shape of a double-thumbed fist clutching a peyote button) to the tune of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man", known to be the song most respected by the late writer. Red, white, blue, and green fireworks were launched along with his ashes. As the city of Aspen would not allow the cannon to remain for more than a month, the cannon has been dismantled and put into storage until a suitable permanent location can be found. According to widow Anita Thompson, the actor Johnny Depp, a close friend of Thompson (and portrayer of Raoul Duke, Thompson's fictional alter ego, in the movie adaptation of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), financed the funeral. Depp told the Associated Press, "All I'm doing is trying to make sure his last wish comes true. I just want to send my pal out the way he wants to go out."[29]
Other famous attendees at the funeral included U.S. Senator John Kerry and former U.S. Senator George McGovern; 60 Minutes correspondent Ed Bradley; actors Bill Murray (who portrayed Hunter S. Thompson in the movie Where the Buffalo Roam), Sean Penn and Josh Hartnett; singers Lyle Lovett and John Oates, The Poet Trip Lucid; and numerous other friends. An estimated 280 people attended the funeral.
The plans for this monument were initially drawn by Thompson and Ralph Steadman and were shown as part of an Omnibus program on the BBC entitled Fear and Loathing in Gonzovision (1978). It is included as a special feature on the second disc of the 2003 Criterion Collection DVD release of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (labeled on the DVD as "Fear and Loathing on the Road to Hollywood"). The video footage of Steadman and Thompson drawing the plans and outdoor footage showing where he wanted the cannon constructed were played prior to the unveiling of his cannon at the funeral.
Douglas Brinkley, a friend and now the family's spokesman, said of the ceremony: "If that's what he wanted, we'll see if we can pull it off."[30]
15 Comments
dystopianfuturetodayHunter S. Thompson is one of my all time heroes.
schmawyDamn you, Dr. Thompson. You left when we needed you most.
dystopianfuturetoday*requeue
siftbotRe-queueing this video for one more try; last queued Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008 8:20pm PST - requeue requested by submitter dystopianfuturetoday.
spoco2Anyone who commits suicide while they have a family, and especially while that family is around, (and your wife is on the phone to you even) is a coward.
To do that to the ones who love you most is just plain and simply cowardly.
As such I have to temper any devotion I read of to the man with that simple fact. If you have children, try imagining doing that to them, and the trauma it would cause.
dystopianfuturetodayI don't think you would say that if you had a loved one who took their own life.
spoco2I think I would because I would feel that they had taken the easy option. I've had friends who have attempted it in the past, and I just find it cowardly.
Now... there is a case where I think it has it's place, and that's with terminally ill people who have nothing left to look forward to except a life of pain and agony.
There was some talk that maybe Hunter had a lot of ailments and that was part of his reason, but even given so, this was not the way to do it.
If you're over your life in the terms of feeling too old, too sore, too weary to go on, at least give your loved ones the respect to say goodbye and not just surprise them all by shooting yourself in your study while your kids and grandkids are within hearing distance, that's just amazingly self involved, and shows a real lack of care for his family or their feelings.
Trancecoach>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:
I don't think you would say that if you had a loved one who took their own life.
Actually, you might. Suicide is a cowardly way out and it's not something I personally take lightly. Yet, it could just as easily have something to do with an undiagnosed mental illness or simply the (perceived) lack of resources to accept another alternative.
dystopianfuturetodayLet me personalize it.
I had a friend who took her own life. She seemed to have everything going for her, plenty of friends and loved ones who cared about her, a ridiculous amount of talent in her field of work, she was tremendously beautiful and was easily on the road to becoming very rich and successful - maybe even a household name - in her given field.
If anyone called her a coward to my face, I would have to restrain the desire to maim that person (and I'm not a violent person).
It's just a flip and callous thing to say.
I'm not angry at you as I've heard others say the same thing you are saying right now. I just don't think you understand what is wrong with what you've said.
There is no point in insulting a dead person. The only people you insult are the people who cared about that person. And beyond that, taking steps to end your own existence must be one of the darkest and most horrifying journeys a person can take. I don't want to glorify it, but I would imagine killing yourself takes a lot of guts, and is anything but cowardly.
schmawyLet me get this straight. You two are calling Hunter S. Thompson a coward?
spoco2Let me get this straight. You two are calling Hunter S. Thompson a coward?
In how he ended his life, yes, yes I am.
schmawyOkay then. It just seems strange to call one of the bravest journalists we ever had a coward, even if he did take his own life. That word "cowardly" came up in reference to the 9/11 hijackers too. I didn't think it fit then either.
dystopianfuturetodayHST was a giant.
rgroom1DAMN YOU HST!!!
That's what i told my friends to do with my ashes, except i wanna be in an artillery shell shot into the sea
sme4rWho can't relate to Fear and Loathing?
"breathe deep" = *Derp (kinda ruined it for me)
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