![]() They found locations for Thompson to finish his stories, preferably somewhere isolated and with a good bar. Office staff lined up hotel reservations, airline tickets, and rental cars. The magazine supported Thompson in other ways as well. “Editing Hunter required stamina,” Wenner added, “but I was young, and this was once in a lifetime, and we were clear on that.” Then a flurry of headlines and chapter headings and the transitions he had to produce on demand to create the flow and logic, and always, sooner or later, the conclusion which we always called “the Wisdom.” Generally the lede was easy, describing the invariably dramatic weather wherever he was writing from. Rather than abandon it, he would seek new ways to monetize it, especially as writing became more problematic. Although he felt constrained by that image, much as Fitzgerald felt trapped by his Jazz Age persona in the 1930s, it was now his most valuable asset. The gesture signaled an unwillingness both to check his drug use and to refashion his public image. By way of reply, Thompson pulled a tab of LSD out of his wallet, tore it in half, put one half back in his wallet, and washed the other half down with his beer. During one of Thompson’s slumps, Rolling Stone editor Paul Scanlon suggested he put Raoul Duke behind him and start producing again. Gesturing to the drugs, Thompson replied, “Well, if I did that, I’d have to give those up.” Other colleagues also tried to offer advice. At one party, Joe Klein suggested that Thompson write a novel. #HUNTER S THOMPSON DAILY SCHEDULE PROFESSIONAL#Thompson’s lifestyle affected his professional decisions as well his writing process. “When Hunter had problems,” Felton said, “they became your problems. Despite his amazing constitution, his habits were finally taking their toll-not only on him, but also on the colleagues who worked with him. No one described Thompson as a drunk-indeed, he was famous for holding his liquor-but he had been drinking all day, every day, for decades. It sometimes turned his brain into cement, Felton said, and he began to struggle with flow and continuity. Before that time, editor David Felton said, Thompson considered cocaine “a bullshit drug.” In short order, however, it became part of his writing process. The Dexedrine he relied on to maintain his literary output was no longer producing the desired effect, and he began using cocaine after the campaign book appeared. That approach, one of his friends noted, had the added benefit of masking Thompson’s shyness in public.Įven as Thompson flaunted his penchant for drugs and alcohol, those appetites were beginning to hamper his literary production. Sensing that audiences were drawn to his alter ego, Raoul Duke, he played that role onstage. Rather than delivering speeches, Thompson limited himself to answering questions, which were often submitted in advance. He began to lecture on college campuses, and though the work was easy and lucrative, he never enjoyed it. As he did so, Thompson turned his growing renown to advantage. “He kept the sparks flying when the readership was starting to settle down,” Peck said. In particular, Thompson linked readers to their youthful iconoclasm even as their tastes changed. In his estimation, Rolling Stone was one of the most important American magazines of its era, and Thompson defined its nonmusical voice during the 1970s. After editing an underground newspaper in Chicago, Peck worked for Rolling Stone in the mid-1970s and later taught journalism at Northwestern University. Although he did not write about music, he was its most popular contributor, and Abe Peck observed his primacy at close range. Thompson was a central figure at Rolling Stone magazine. Chartreuse, cocaine, grass, Chivas, coffee, Heineken, clove cigarettes, grapefruit, Dunhills, orange juice, gin, continuous pornographic movies.During the mid-1970s, Hunter S. Thompson is ready to writeġ2:05-6:00 a.m. 3:05 Chivas Regal with the morning papers, Dunhillsħ:05 Woody Creek Tavern for lunch-Heineken, two margaritas, coleslaw, a taco salad, a double order of fried onion rings, carrot cake, ice cream, a bean fritter, Dunhills, another Heineken, cocaine, and for the ride home, a snow cone (a glass of shredded ice over which is poured three or four jiggers of Chivas)ġ2:00 midnight, Hunter S. ![]()
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