I am rushed. I have to meet my coffee club in a few minutes in a longshoremen's neighborhood and don't want to get these longshoremen upset. I know what they can do when they get a bit upset.
Later I will flesh this story out.
Hunter S. Thompson wrote a great article on the state of passenger trains in 1965. That story was never published but was re-printed in its entirety in a collection of Hunter S. Thompson letters some time ago. Later I will provide more information regarding that letter.
It's too bad HST (Hunter, not Harry) is no longer with us. It would be interesting to hear his thoughts on California's train to nowhere. A reader just alerted me to the fact that California's debt / deficit problem appears to be resolved. They have the funding for the bullet train to nowhere.
No better news than to hear the deficit problem California had is resolved.
I was a senior in high school in Dickinson ND in 1971 when I read the series "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" published in Rolling Stone. At that time, Rolling Stone was considered to be an underground newspaper, similar to High Times. I couldn't buy it at the Midget New Stand, so I had a subscription (an anomaly in western ND circa 1971), which I jealously shared with a friend or two.
ReplyDeleteThompson's style of writing - Gonzo Journalism - could be mesmerizing for the right high school senior. His descriptions of lizards in the bar, the scene with his attorney in a polluted bathtub (well depicted in the movie), rambling about *The Fear*, were, up until that time, not well elucidated, much less promulgated.
Unfortunately, Thompson, the brilliant writer, seemed to have slipped into a world of decay and dysfunction in his last days. I wish he would have come to terms with the debilitating effects of drug usage; I believe this was his demise. He had more to offer.
I look forward to the commentary on railroads. I was unaware of the existence of his earlier work, which may provide more insight into the man. I suspect there is a lot we didn't, and don't know, about Hunter S Thompson.
You are absolutely correct: when HST was good, he was incredible, but drugs and paranoia really "destroyed" his writing. He was extremely good at predicting what would happen in politics. I believe he predicted that Ronald Reagan, at the time he became governoe, would someday be US President. That was quite incredible.
DeleteMy comments re: "gonzo" - http://milliondollarliterature.blogspot.com/2010/11/hunter-s-thompson-and-gonzo.html
My HST library (not updated): http://milliondollarliterature.blogspot.com/2009/11/my-hunter-s-thompson-library.html
Passing the baton: http://milliondollarliterature.blogspot.com/2012/07/passing-baton.html
I hope I carried my HST book with me so I can finish my story re: passenger railroad.
Yes, you were quite "out of step" in ND if you had a subscription to Rolling Stone.
For those interested, a City Journal article mentioning the California rail project.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.city-journal.org/2012/cjc0710cr.html