Tribute to Hunter S. Thompson...and the Paxacidus Trip

[Maverick]

This was in the Seattle times today:

Drunkard mag toasts Thompson

By Peter Carlson

The Washington Post

E-mail article
Print view
Search Most e-mailed
Most read
RSS
WASHINGTON — Since Hunter S. Thompson killed himself in February, magazines from Rolling Stone to the American Journalism Review have printed tributes to the gonzo journalist. If Thompson is reading his obits in the Great Beyond, his favorite eulogy is probably the one published in Modern Drunkard, the Denver-based magazine of inebriation, which hailed him as a great writer and a great drunk.

"There was always a powerful comfort in knowing he was out there somewhere in the night, roaring drunk, guzzling high-octane whiskey and railing against a world amok with complacency and hypocrisy," wrote Frank Kelly Rich, Modern Drunkard's editor and publisher.

"Hunter was the last of a long, distinguished line of drunkard heroes," Rich wrote, a line in which he included Ernest Hemingway, Humphrey Bogart, Winston Churchill, W.C. Fields and Mark Twain.

Some might suggest that shooting yourself, as Thompson did, might be an indication you've been drinking too much. Rich rejects that logic: "He lived his life on his own terms, and that's how he went out."

When he heard the news of Thompson's death, Rich writes, "I personally crawled into a bottle of rum and tried to get a handle on it."

Emerging from the rum bottle — or perhaps typing while still inside it — Rich hailed Thompson as a rebel against a society that suppresses fun.

"Nowadays the main rule is Play It Safe," he writes. "Not only should you look before you leap, you should think very seriously about attending a Leapers Anonymous meeting and discussing the possibility that you have a leaping problem."

Readers who want to revel in their leaping problems can attend the Modern Drunkard Convention in Denver May 13-15. I'm not sure exactly what goes on at a Modern Drunkard convention, but I suspect there may be some alcohol involved.

[Maverick]

I think that McCutcheon and Sloth should submit their stories to that magazine, Modern Drunkard, and that Paxacidus should make a pilgrimage to the Convention.

[mccutcheon]

I did 9 months ago and never heard a word. I thought they had gone out of business. See I do try.

[Maverick]

Try again. It's like drinks and sex, once is never enough.

[Guest]

Or in this case....if at thirst you don't succeed.