Lola
Lola, I should have known that Bernie liked Hunter Thompson. This was is the paper today---I know Bernie would be cheering Hunter on. You can save this for Bernie to rear when he returns home.---BBB
Aug 17, 2005 11:08 am US/Mountain
Thompson's Cannon Blast Farewell Set For Saturday
(AP) WOODY CREEK, Colo.
A hand-scrawled note on the refrigerator in Hunter S. Thompson's kitchen says, ''Never call 911/Never/This means you/HST.'' Over the sink, a snapshot shows the famously reckless father of gonzo journalism nuzzling a tiny kitten.
This room, jammed with cooking utensils, writing mementos and a giant TV, is where Thompson wrote some of the acerbic books and articles that made him an American treasure in the late 1960s and early '70s. It was here that he held court with friends and admirers. It is also where he shot himself to death six months ago at age 67.
The kitchen remains a center of Thompson's still-swirling universe as family and friends wrap up plans to blast his ashes out of a 150-foot-tall monument behind the house at Owl Farm this Saturday. It's what he wanted.
''No crying, no tears, only celebration,'' Thompson's widow, Anita, said during a 2 1/2-hour interview at the home and her makeshift office above the Woody Creek Store, not far from Aspen. ''He wanted people to celebrate,'' she said. ''He envisioned it to be a beautiful party. The most amazing people would be there. His friends would celebrate his life. And he was even specific that there would be clinking of ice and whiskey.''
According to a report in the Aspen Daily News, Thompson's ashes have been sealed inside the tops of dozens of fireworks that will explode above his property on Saturday. Actor Johnny Depp is funding the event, which organizers estimate will cost roughly $2.5 million, to fulfill the vision that Thompson detailed in a 1978 BBC documentary and to his friends and family leading up to his suicide. Thompson shot himself in the head Feb. 20.
The News reported nearly all of his ashes will be blasted out of the top of a double-thumbed clenched fist made of fiberglass. The fist will be atop 11 chrome cylinders and a giant dagger. The structure is an enormous replica of the author's gonzo logo, the News said.
The structure is 153 feet tall and is two feet taller than the Statue of Liberty. It towers over a field between the home and a tree-covered, red-rock canyon wall. It is shrouded in gray and blue tarpaulins that ripple in the wind and it will not be unveiled until Saturday.
Anita Thompson said Saturday will include some reminiscence, readings from Thompson's work and performances by both Lyle Lovett and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. About 250 people were invited, including Thompson's longtime illustrator, Ralph Steadman, and actors Sean Penn and Johnny Depp, close friends of the writer.
Depp, who portrayed Thompson in the 1998 movie version of ''Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,'' is financing much of the send-off, Anita Thompson said. She said she doesn't know the total cost and said others have offered to chip in.
''Everybody's bringing what they have to offer,'' she said.
The event is private and security will be tight. David Meeker of Specialized Protective Services in Aspen would say only that the precautions will be more elaborate than for any similar-sized event he has ever protected. The narrow roads that thread the canyon will remain open, but Pitkin County deputies will bar anyone from stopping to watch from outside the property, Anita Thompson said. Sheriff Bob Braudis, a friend of Thompson, did not return a call.
After Saturday, the monument will be taken down. Anita Thompson said it may be put up elsewhere, but she's not sure. Thompson's son, Juan, did not return calls seeking comment.
Thompson's suicide ended a storied career that included landmark works of new journalism such as ''Hells Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs,'' published in 1966, 1971's ''Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream'' and ''Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72.''
He built a public persona as a drug-fueled risk-taker, but friends and family say that masked the Kentucky-born writer's true nature - a Southern gentleman and meticulous craftsman who lived and wrote at Owl Farm from the late 1960s until his death. The telephone-answering machine still barks at callers with Thompson's voice, mechanically commanding them to ''Please. Leave. A message.''
Anita Thompson, 32, who married the writer in April 2003, said she plans to protect and promote her husband's legacy.
''I'll be working for Hunter the rest of my life. I know that. I made that commitment, and I'm honored that I can,'' she said.
At least three new books are planned, including the third volume of his letters, a collection of unpublished short stories and an unfinished novel, ''Polo is My Life.'' She is seeking a permanent home for Thompson's archive, which fills some 1,200 boxes now stored in a vault off the property. Plans are in the works for a Hunter Thompson Foundation to help young people his widow describes as unfairly ensnared in the criminal justice system.
She also plans what she calls ''a small book of wisdom'' based on things her husband told her.
'''Never think you're the smartest one in the room. And never think you're the dumbest one in the room.' Little things like that,'' she said. Leaning against a sun-drenched woodpile at Owl Farm, she lifted a large green gemstone hanging from a small chain around her neck. It used to belong to her husband.
''He got this in Saigon. He believed this is why he lived so long,'' she said. He took it off only a handful of times, when he underwent surgery or to briefly place it around her neck. ''But this gives me great strength. He always wore it,'' she said, and now she wears it. ''He wanted me to.''
-----------------------------------------
More re Thompson:
http://cbs4denver.com/local/local_story_229103755.html
His color is already better than it had been earlier in the week - hopefully the same amount of improvement will come from this next procedure. 
