NYT/AP: Gonzo Journalist's Sendoff Set for Saturday

[DeepModem Mom]

Gonzo Journalist's Sendoff Set for Sat.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 20, 2005
Filed at 7:57 a.m. ET


DENVER (AP) -- Firework shells carrying the sealed ashes of ''gonzo'' journalist Hunter S. Thompson arrived in an armored truck at his mountain home as final preparations were being made for his star-studded farewell.

The shells were scheduled to be launched Saturday night from a 150-foot-tall monument erected behind Thompson's house in Woody Creek, just outside Aspen. The event will be private, open to about 250 invited guests including Thompson's longtime illustrator, Ralph Steadman, and actors Sean Penn and Johnny Depp.

''We haven't noticed a lot of curiosity seekers or pilgrims, but the buzz and the excitement is increasing every hour,'' family spokesman Matt Moseley said Friday. ''People are coming into town, people invited to the event, and I've been getting calls from fans who'll say things like 'I'm coming in from Wisconsin with a case of Chivas.'''

The scotch whiskey was a favorite of Thompson's.

The counterculture writer fatally shot himself six months ago in his home at the age of 67. Friends and family have said Thompson was rundown by pain and physical problems including hip replacement surgery and a broken leg....


http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Thompson-Memorial.html


On edit: Including Greeby's toast in post #1: "So long, Gonzo"!
:beer: :toast:

[Greeby]

1. BBC: Gonzo journalist takes final shot (Hunter's funeral)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/4168266.stm

Friends and admirers of the gonzo journalist Hunter S Thompson have been gathering in Aspen, Colorado for his final send-off - in a cannon shot.

The writer's ashes are to be fired from a cannon on his Owl Farm home, exactly six months after he shot himself.

Johnny Depp, who played Thompson in the film of his book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, paid for the cannon.

The writer's friend Matt Moseley told the BBC the funeral would be "the grandest celebration you can imagine".

So long, Gonzo :beer: :toast:

[leftchick]

2. Johnnie Depp is the best....

What a great guy.... :loveya:

<snip>


She said Depp, who grew close to Thompson after portraying him in the 1998 film version of ''Fear and Loathing,'' funded much of the celebration.

''We had talked a couple of times about his last wishes to be shot out of a cannon of his own design,'' Depp told The Associated Press last month. ''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.''


Farewell Gonzo! You are missed.....:toast:

[DeepModem Mom]

3. Kicking for Hunter!

:toast:

[Voltaire99]

4. Up you go, Hunter

Thanks for the memories, old pal.

[LifeDuringWartime]

5. wow

"The tower -- intentionally built just taller than the Statue of Liberty -- was erected in a field between Thompson's home and a tree-covered canyon wall. It was shrouded in tarpaulins for days, but his widow, Anita, said it was modeled after Thompson's Gonzo logo: a clenched fist, made symmetrical with two thumbs, rising from the hilt of a dagger."

i'd love to see this thing

[Rex]

6. Hunter S Thompson to be shot out of a cannon.

I shouldn't say this but I must - this almost makes me wonder if he is still alive somewhere laughing his ass off.