10 Ways Hunter S Thompson Was Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die

Just as I began this list with his professional origin I’ll end it with his life’s conclusion. Just to clarify, I'm not saying the way he went out was worth admiring; it's the way his life was ultimately celebrated that is. Ever the straight shooter (which, I’ve just realised, is a somewhat badly phrased analogy) and always one bad trip away from ending it all, Thompson actually told his friends and family that he was planning to kill himself. He didn’t do this in an effort to get sympathy or even in the hopes that someone would stop him, he merely wanted to bow out without truly breaking anyone’s heart. No one tried to stop him either, as they understood that it was something he simply had to do.

That’s not to say they stood around and knew when he would do it, he merely alluded the fact that he would. When he shot himself in the head his visiting family members initially thought the sound was a book falling (somehow) so didn’t check on him for a while. His son found him and eventually a suicide note was discovered which read: "No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy. No Fun — for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your (old) age. Relax — This won't hurt.” This truly was his style of writing and sense of self summarised into a handful of lines, which is quite fitting really.

The funeral itself was an incredible affair, featuring actors like Jack Nicholson and Bill Murray as well as US senators such as George McGovern and John Kerry. The whole event was led by Johnny Depp (told you he’d pop up again) who had paid the full $3 million for it to take place. The ceremony itself consisted his ashes being fired from a cannon atop a monument, which no matter how you look at it, beats any kind of send off you or I will have. The monument was the same symbol Thompson used for his gonzo journalism, and his Sheriff campaign, of a double thumbed fist holding a peyote button, and it still stands to this day, just as strong as his influence over gonzo journalism will always be.

And those are just a few worthy notes of the insane run of Hunter S Thompson! Know of any more fabulous facts that are stranger than fiction? Let us know in the comments below!