The International Writers Magazine: Comment

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Buy the ticket take the ride • James Ryder And so it ends. An abrupt conclusion to the great adventure that was Hunter Thompson’s life. A life spent pushing the limits. That fruitless search for the American dream. I could waste pages trying to analyse the limited information about what happened that night. Why he did it. Its 2 days ago now and I’m sure the conspiracy theories are already circulating. But I don’t want to dwell on that. Instead I want to talk about what he meant to myself and countless others. This mysterious figure. The half man half legend that I never met.

I will shamefully admit that I had no prior knowledge of this figure prior to time I first witnessed the film of Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas. Late at night. Half drunk.
But it wasn’t the visuals and the excess of the film that fascinated me. It was the language. He had a mouth like a sniper rifle. People talk too much. Spraying words around like machine guns. But not Hunter. He was straight to the point and deadly accurate. It was the directness. the control of the English language. I was hooked.

Everybody wants to write like Hunter. Myself included. But no one will ever get close. But what we should learn from him is integrity. Strength in writing. A conviction in what you say. He wrote what he wanted to say regardless whether it was wrong or right. Legal or illegal.

I have found myself in the paranoid generation of the 21st century. A generation that doesn’t really know where it fits in. Know one knows what they want to do in the future. Especially me.
But that has changed. I know what I want to do I want to write. I want to join the legions of people who will try and carry on where Dr Gonzo left off. We may never match the genius but can sure as hell try.
And so in conclusion. Thank you Hunter for being a voice of dark side of the 20th century. For inspiring countless people to pick up a pen and write. And most importantly for reminding us it’s ok to have fun. You will be missed

© James Ryder Feb 24th 2005

James is a student on the Creative Arts Programme at Portsmouth University

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