On The Anniversary Of Hunter S. Thompson's Suicide - An Interview With Dr. Gonzo

Photograph by Kilroy_60

It's not unusual in the blogosphere to be interviewed through an exchange of emails. I did an interview last week.

Just as common, splicing together pieces of film, think Stephen Colbert, to create an interview with someone who wouldn't talk to you otherwise. {Or, in this case can't}

If Dr. Gonzo were a blogger, I wonder, what might our interview look like?

Three Quick Questions...

Dr. Gonzo, now that you're a known author, how has your life changed?

"I haven't quite come to grips yet with the odd realities that seem to have overtaken me in the past few years, and the notion of being both a journalist and a public figure (sic) still confuses me, particularly when I have to grapple with it in public and with no warning about what to expect."
- Hunter S. Thompson {page 664}

For those who don't know, what is a writer's life like?

"One of the few really fine things about being a writer is that you put your product in a fucking envelope & send it off and maybe the check comes back & some time later you may or may not read the swill. But by then it hardly matters. Fuck them. We're a nation of pigs & we get what we deserve --- Hee Haw, Salems & Wide Track Pontiacs."
- Hunter S. Thompson {page 307}

How well do you think journalists understand their audience?

"The weird truth that few editors and writers can even imagine is that the 'literate public' is far stranger and freakier that the very square world of editors and journalists...all of which makes journalists a sort of echo , rather than the Force it seems to be in the context of Time and Newsweek."
- Hunter S. Thompson {page 139}

Thanks for your time, Dr. Gonzo. I enjoyed it.

"I assume you understand that I'd never consider paying you a compliment in anything but the most oblique and devious manner. We all have our styles, and that's mine."
- Hunter S. Thompson {pages 174-175}