Vale: Hunter S Thompson

Hunter S. Thompson found dead
By Times Online

Hunter S. Thompson, the American author and journalist died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home in Colorado on Sunday.

The 67-year-old hero of counter culture and creator of "gonzo journalism", best known for his book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, was found by his son Juan on Sunday evening according to the Aspen Daily News. Thompson's wife, Anita Thompson, 32, was reportedly not at home when the shooting occurred.

"On February 20, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson took his life with a gunshot to the head at his fortified compound in Woody Creek, Colorado. The family will provide more information about memorial service and media contacts shortly. Hunter prized his privacy and we ask that his friends and admirers respect that privacy as well as that of his family," Juan and Anita Thompson said in a statement released to the Aspen Daily News. "He stomped terra."

"The sheriff’s department can confirm the apparent death by a self-inflicted gunshot wound of Hunter S. Thompson at his home," said Tricia Louthis, a spokeswoman for the Pitkin County sheriff’s department in the western American state of Colorado.

Thompson's life and extraordinary drug-inspired adventures were brought to the screen in a film of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, starring Johnny Depp.