Inkwell: Authors and Artists
Topic 518: Peter Richardson, Savage Journey: Hunter S. Thompson and the Weird Road to Gonzo
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Peter Richardson, Savage Journey: Hunter S. Thompson and the Weird Road to Gonzo
permalink #101 of 115: Peter Richardson (richardsonpete) Tue 5 Apr 22 09:47
permalink #101 of 115: Peter Richardson (richardsonpete) Tue 5 Apr 22 09:47
Writer's name is Jason Vest.
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Peter Richardson, Savage Journey: Hunter S. Thompson and the Weird Road to Gonzo
permalink #102 of 115: Alex Davie (icenine) Sat 9 Apr 22 04:03
permalink #102 of 115: Alex Davie (icenine) Sat 9 Apr 22 04:03
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 didnt know who he was. He was so messed up he couldnt talk. He was barefoot and skinny, dressed in a trench coat and a pair of underwear. We didnt 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.
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Peter Richardson, Savage Journey: Hunter S. Thompson and the Weird Road to Gonzo
permalink #103 of 115: Peter Richardson (richardsonpete) Sat 9 Apr 22 06:14
permalink #103 of 115: Peter Richardson (richardsonpete) Sat 9 Apr 22 06:14
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.
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Peter Richardson, Savage Journey: Hunter S. Thompson and the Weird Road to Gonzo
permalink #104 of 115: Jack King (gjk) Sun 10 Apr 22 15:04
permalink #104 of 115: Jack King (gjk) Sun 10 Apr 22 15:04
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.
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Peter Richardson, Savage Journey: Hunter S. Thompson and the Weird Road to Gonzo
permalink #105 of 115: Alex Davie (icenine) Mon 11 Apr 22 02:09
permalink #105 of 115: Alex Davie (icenine) Mon 11 Apr 22 02:09
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?
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Peter Richardson, Savage Journey: Hunter S. Thompson and the Weird Road to Gonzo
permalink #106 of 115: Peter Richardson (richardsonpete) Sat 23 Apr 22 02:39
permalink #106 of 115: Peter Richardson (richardsonpete) Sat 23 Apr 22 02:39
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.
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Peter Richardson, Savage Journey: Hunter S. Thompson and the Weird Road to Gonzo
permalink #107 of 115: Inkwell Host (jonl) Sat 23 Apr 22 14:35
permalink #107 of 115: Inkwell Host (jonl) Sat 23 Apr 22 14:35
Oh, cool to see that!
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Peter Richardson, Savage Journey: Hunter S. Thompson and the Weird Road to Gonzo
permalink #108 of 115: Jack King (gjk) Sun 24 Apr 22 14:38
permalink #108 of 115: Jack King (gjk) Sun 24 Apr 22 14:38
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."
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Peter Richardson, Savage Journey: Hunter S. Thompson and the Weird Road to Gonzo
permalink #109 of 115: Alex Davie (icenine) Mon 25 Apr 22 07:56
permalink #109 of 115: Alex Davie (icenine) Mon 25 Apr 22 07:56
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..
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Peter Richardson, Savage Journey: Hunter S. Thompson and the Weird Road to Gonzo
permalink #110 of 115: Axon (axon) Mon 25 Apr 22 10:44
permalink #110 of 115: Axon (axon) Mon 25 Apr 22 10:44
>who was Mike and what did he do I just assumed he meant Godwin.
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Peter Richardson, Savage Journey: Hunter S. Thompson and the Weird Road to Gonzo
permalink #111 of 115: Jack King (gjk) Mon 25 Apr 22 12:59
permalink #111 of 115: Jack King (gjk) Mon 25 Apr 22 12:59
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.
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Peter Richardson, Savage Journey: Hunter S. Thompson and the Weird Road to Gonzo
permalink #112 of 115: Alex Davie (icenine) Tue 26 Apr 22 02:49
permalink #112 of 115: Alex Davie (icenine) Tue 26 Apr 22 02:49
Got it and thanking you for the background to the 2:30 AM call
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Peter Richardson, Savage Journey: Hunter S. Thompson and the Weird Road to Gonzo
permalink #113 of 115: Jack King (gjk) Tue 26 Apr 22 09:23
permalink #113 of 115: Jack King (gjk) Tue 26 Apr 22 09:23
That's everything. I never even found out why they called.
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Peter Richardson, Savage Journey: Hunter S. Thompson and the Weird Road to Gonzo
permalink #114 of 115: Peter Richardson (richardsonpete) Wed 11 May 22 04:26
permalink #114 of 115: Peter Richardson (richardsonpete) Wed 11 May 22 04:26
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/
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Peter Richardson, Savage Journey: Hunter S. Thompson and the Weird Road to Gonzo
permalink #115 of 115: Alex Davie (icenine) Wed 11 May 22 04:59
permalink #115 of 115: Alex Davie (icenine) Wed 11 May 22 04:59
Thanking you for that article link..
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