Hunter S. Thompson, 1937-2005 Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Hell's Angels

The hippie and anti-war counterculture at first embraced the Hell's Angels, seeing them as anti-establishment rebels. Hunter, after spending a year living with them, painted a much darker picture in his book. It sold well and made his name as a writer nationwide. Hunter's sojourn with the Hell's Angels ended when he was rigorously stomped by his biker "friends".

Answer: Aspen, Colorado

Hunter was a lifelong political junkie, a patriot who believed America had somehow gone wrong and was in need of a new kind of politics that could put it right. In 1967, he moved to Woody Creek, Colorado, where he would live for the rest of his life and became involved in the campaign by Aspen's non-conformist population to wrest control of the city from the old-guard politicians. Hunter first worked on the unsuccessful campaign to elect radical lawyer Joe Edwards mayor of Aspen. Then, in 1970, he himself ran for sheriff of Pitkin County, of which Aspen is the seat.

Running on an anti-development platform, Hunter pledged to change Aspen's name to "Fat City" and tear up the streets to drive away "jackal" investors. He also proposed the decriminalization of drugs and shaved his head so that he could refer to the Republican incumbent as "my long-haired opponent". Though Hunter's run was unsuccessful, the race was extremely close. Not for the first time, Hunter's hopes for a different kind of politics were disappointed. But neither this disappointment, nor the many that would follow, was enough to crush his optimism that the new politics was possible.

Answer: Rolling Stone

"Rolling Stone" was founded in 1967 by Jann Wenner, who remains its editor as of 2010. Although it is primarily a rock music magazine, "Rolling Stone" has a long history of highly regarded political journalism. Hunter's first article for "Rolling Stone" concerned his political campaigns in Aspen. It was the beginning of a long association in which Hunter and "Rolling Stone" helped to make each other famous. He remained a contributing editor to its political section until his death.

Don't take this the wrong way, but if you chose "Reader's Digest", it's possible that you don't know all that much about Hunter S. Thompson, and I fear you may not do so well on this quiz.

Answer: gonzo

The origins of the word "gonzo" are obscure, but it was first used to describe Hunter's writing in 1970, when the editor of the "Boston Globe" referred to an article written by Hunter on the Kentucky Derby as "gonzo journalism". The word is now synonymous with Hunter's style, and with that of other writers who have been influenced by him.

Characterized by a manic, stream-of consciousness style, the philosophy of gonzo is that traditional journalistic objectivity, without the subjective commentary of the writer, is not always the best way to show the reader the truth of a story. Hunter himself appeared as a character in his stories, using his experiences (including his hedonistic rampages and aggressive encounters with his subjects) to provide a context for the bare facts. He also, for the purposes of satire, felt free to occasionally make things up - and not everyone was able to tell when he was joking.

Answer: A 300-pound Samoan

If all you knew about him was what you read in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", you might be forgiven for thinking that the only thing Oscar Zeta Acosta did in his life was consume inadvisably large quantities of drugs. However, Acosta was in fact an activist for the Chicano movement, putting his legal skills at the service of the Hispanic-American civil rights struggle. He went missing in 1974 during a trip to Mexico and is presumed dead.

In "Fear and Loathing", Acosta joins Hunter on a surreal, hallucinogenic rampage of wrecked hotel rooms and paranoid fantasies as they search for the American Dream and find instead the ruins of the counterculture. Fictionalized to the extent that it is usually referred to as a novel, "Fear and Loathing" portrays Hunter as his long-time alter ego, Raoul Duke, and Acosta as a 300-pound Samoan - about which he was apparently less than happy.

Answer: Democratic challenger George McGovern

Disillusioned by mainstream politics, Hunter began his coverage of the campaign deeply cynical about all the contenders - contemptuous of Muskie and Humphrey and consumed with hatred for Nixon. Soon, however, he became impressed by the underdog challenger George McGovern, whose decency and openness to the voice of youthful America renewed Hunter's optimism that what he saw as the old-style political hacks could be beaten. McGovern's eventual, and cataclysmic, defeat at the hands of Nixon plunged Hunter back into despondency.

The book follows McGovern's campaign with the obsession of a true political junkie, describing the day-to-day struggles of the high-stake contest that is a Presidential campaign so effectively that it is still regarded as one of the best books ever written on the subject. In the gonzo spirit, Hunter also mixes in occasional fanciful tales, or "lies" as they are sometimes called. Among his claims in the book: that Ed Muskie was addicted to an exotic African drug called ibogaine, and that Hunter himself was at one point ambushed and beaten unconscious by McGovern's campaign manager.

Answer: Doonesbury

The character of Duke first appeared in Garry Trudeau's "Doonesbury" in the 1970's, introduced as the uncle of Zonker Harris. At first, the character was a simple parody of Hunter, working at "Rolling Stone" and deriving his name from Hunter's alter ego, Raoul Duke. As time went on, however, Duke became a significant character in his own right and his career diverged from Hunter's - he served, for example, as the Governor of American Samoa and then the US Ambassador to China.

Duke is a gun-toting, drug-crazed loose cannon; Hunter loathed the character and was furious at Trudeau. Personally, I am a fan of Doonesbury and an admirer of Duke, but I can see Hunter's point. While Hunter certainly did his share of gun-toting and drug-rampaging, perhaps "Doonesbury" focused too much on the loose cannon and not enough on the serious writer that Hunter justifiably felt himself to be.

Answer: cartoonist

British cartoonist Steadman is famous for the surreal, somewhat disturbing illustrations that he produced for Hunter. Hunter and Steadman first teamed up for that same 1970 article on the Kentucky Derby that first saw the word "gonzo" used to describe Hunter's writing.

This is entirely fitting, as Steadman's crazed, horrifying drawings captured the spirit of gonzo perfectly. Steadman illustrated "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail" and they remained friends for the rest of Hunter's life.

Answer: Johnny Depp

Directed by Terry Gilliam, the movie (in my opinion) was a good attempt to capture the spirit of what is, to be honest, a near-unfilmable book. Johnny Depp made a masterful attempt to capture a near-unfilmable character. However, the movie was a failure, commercially and critically. Hunter himself liked it and approved of Depp's performance.

John Cusack came close to getting the part, but missed out after Hunter met Johnny Depp and decided he wanted Depp to play him. Benecio del Toro played the part of "Dr Gonzo", aka Oscar Zeta Acosta. He gained a huge amount of weight for the role (matched by Depp, who shaved his head to reproduce Hunter's baldness).

Bill Murray played Hunter in the 1980 movie "Where the Buffalo Roam", a disjointed series of episodes from Hunter's career. Hunter hated the movie, but liked Murray's performance. He remained friends with both Depp and Murray until his death.

Answer: His ashes were fired out of a giant cannon

Hunter had long told friends and family that when he felt the time was right, he would end his life by suicide. In pain from chronic medical problems and depressed about the political situation in his country, he decided the time was right on February 20, 2005, dying of a self-inflicted gunshot.

His funeral, attended by friends such as Nicholson, Penn, Bill Murray and George McGovern, had also been planned by Hunter years before. A 50-meter tower topped with the gonzo symbol of a two-thumbed fist was constructed. A cannon was hoisted to the top and from it, Hunter's ashes were fired. The funeral was financed by Johnny Depp.