Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Writer's name is Jason Vest.
  

    
One last thing to be brought into the discussion as I was reading
_Cronies_ while I waited for my copy of _Savage Journey_
On page 210 of _Cronies_, Ken Babbs describes the first visit to La
Honda by the Hell's Angels, thusly:
"The Angels brought Hunter S. Thompson to the party. We didn’t know
who he was. He was so messed up he couldn’t talk. He was barefoot
and skinny, dressed in a trench coat and a pair of underwear. We
didn’t know why he was there or what he was doing or why they were
mistreating him so badly. They dragged him around, literally yanking
his chain, for Hunter was chained to a Hell's Angel, a dog was
chained to Hunter, and a cat was chained to the dog. A chain of
fools."

This passage by Babbs maybe apocryphal or not. It certainly is
illustrative and quite the visual image. 

Anywhoo, as we leave this topic, I want express my gratitude to
Peter for writing this book. It is an important subject and one that
needed a deep dive into a writer, his formative years, the zeitgeist
of the times and how those influences shaped him.

Again, thanking you Peter for writing this book and thanks be to the
hosts and contributors for hosting this topic. I have enjoyed
reading this topic.
  

    
Very interesting, Alex. I haven't read "Cronies" yet. As you know
from my book, Thompson's account of this party is very different. We
also have his wife's account of the party in Alex Gibney's "Gonzo." 


Thompson introduced Kesey to the SF Angels and attended the party
with his family, not the Hell's Angels. He was horrified when Kesey
started giving acid to them. He decided to take Sandy and Juan to
the beach. Upon their return to the party, he was amazed that
everyone was calmly watching footage of the Pranksters'
cross-country trek in 1964. 

Things got crazy later. Thompson witnessed a gang bang that Tom
Wolfe described in "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test." (The
description is based on a tape recording Thompson made the next
morning.) I won't recount the details except to say it involved one
of Neal Cassady's girlfriends. Cassady, who was naked, drunk, and
yelling at the police that night, also participated in the gang
bang. After that, Thompson took LSD for the first time. 

I'm not sure what Ken Babbs is up to here, but it's not a reliable
description of Thompson or the party. 

I'm glad you enjoyed the book and the chat.   
  

    
Babbs was a combat helicopter pilot, wasn't he? If so, that tells me
everything. I've known a bunch of army and marine helicopter pilots
and crews, and they tell the tallest tales.
  

    
Yes, he was..wrote _Who Shot The Water Buffalo_ which I found,
purchased and read..a very good read about his embellished
experiences being a combat helicopter pilot in Viet Nam..
So can he be a teller of tall tales here, as well?

Probably but his motives for describing HST's visit, as such are
suspect since we have other accounts of that day..Quien sabe?

Was he looking for a way to reference Aretha's song?
Again, Quien sabe?
  

    
C-SPAN's "Book TV" aired a Zoom conversation between David Talbot
and me, hosted by City Lights and focused on the Hunter Thompson
book.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?517101-1/savage-journey

I gather the WaPo article by Jason Vest will run on May 15. He also
interviewed Tim Crouse, author of "The Boys on the Bus." Crouse was
Thompson's assistant during the 1972 presidential campaign. Thompson
suggested that he make the press corps the subject of his reporting.
  

    
Oh, cool to see that! 
  

    
I love C-SPAN. I think I watch it more hours per week than any other
channel, but I missed that, thanks for the link.

Thompson called my home phone once about 2:30 a.m. and yelled "I'm
going to kill your friend Mike!" I replied, "I haven't slept for the
past two nights, I finally turned in for a good night's sleep, and
you woke me up just to tell me that?" And he changed gears, started
mumbling an apology, and said, "Ah, sorry, you're very gracious to
indulge me, very gracious."
  

    
A little more background on the call would be appreciated, at least
by me..who was Mike and what did he do to make HST so angry?
I know HST had a hair trigger and anything could set him off..
  

    
>who was Mike and what did he do

I just assumed he meant Godwin.
  

    
HA!

No, Mike was a writer & editor for a humor magazine in NYC at the
time. Thompson was in the city for something or another -- who
knows? -- I asked him but he said it was "top secret." Apparently
the two had been drinking together for some time, hours or days
(nights). Again, who knows?

I suspect ol' Doc shouted that for Mike's benefit. The funny thing
is, I was ready to kill both of them for waking me up. But Thompson
suddenly turned into a gentleman and I was hundreds of miles away,
so we had a short chat, everybody forgave everybody, and that was
that.

It's not really a story about anything except how Thompson could
shift gears in a flash. I imagine he also could turn on you just as
quickly.
  

    
Got it and thanking you for the background to the 2:30 AM call
  

    
That's everything. I never even found out why they called.
  

    
Here's Jason Vest's article on Thompson's campaign reporting in
1972. I gather it will run in The Washington Post Magazine on
Sunday. Jason also found Timothy Crouse, author of "The Boys on the
Bus," which holds up very well.  

https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2022/05/10/hunter-thompson-campaign-co
verage/
  

    
Thanking you for that article link..