Hunter S. Thompson honored with "Gonzo Edition" of newspaper

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/21/america/NA-GEN-US-Thompson-Tribute.php

Hunter S. Thompson honored with "Gonzo Edition" of newspaper
The Associated Press
Published: July 21, 2007

DENVER: Pioneering journalist Hunter S. Thompson, who involved himself in his accounts of America's underbelly and popularized a first-person form of journalism in books such as "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," was honored Saturday with a special issue of the Aspen Daily News.

The so-called "Gonzo Edition," named for Thompson's "gonzo" form of hard-living journalism, was edited by his widow, Anita, and ran three days after what would have been his 70th birthday. Thompson shot himself in 2005 in his home in Woody Creek, near Aspen.

"An adrenaline rush shared with these independent local journalists at the Daily News reminds me of Hunter's balancing act between fear and freedom," Anita Thompson wrote.

Contributors to the "Gonzo Edition," included Ralph Steadman, a friend of Thompson for nearly 35 years, who contributed his drawings to many books.

Also Saturday, friends were to gather in Aspen to discuss Thompson's work — which frequently mocked U.S. politicians — at a symposium let by historian Douglas Brinkley.