The Tao of Gonzo

One night, Hunter S. Thompson said, “Sometimes when you write something, you just know you're doing the right thing.” These words came to light during one of the interviews I had the privilege of doing with Thompson back in 2003 or 2004. This particular interview was for a feature I was putting together about Thompson's campaign for Lisl Auman, the 19-year-old girl who was charged with Colorado's Felony Murder law and railroaded into prison in 1998. After being drawn to her case in 2001, Thompson launched a campaign on her behalf with the slogan: "Today Lisl, Tomorrow You!" Attracting the likes of Warren Zevon, Benicio del Toro, and a handful of major league attorneys to her cause, the author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas raised awareness about this young woman's struggle by organizing public protests and maintaining constant pressure with his ongoing national media coverage.

“Sometimes when you write something, you just know you're doing the right thing.” Whether writing about civil rights or politics, sports or business, even letters and journal entries — no matter the subject, those words can apply. Wise words. Working with Thompson was something else, and I say “with” because when writers did interviews or wrote features about him or something he was involved with, he'd take personal pride in the projects as though they were his own. And they were. If someone called and interrupted an interview, he'd throw the call up on the speaker-phone and say something like, “We're over here working on such-and-such story for such-and-such magazine.”

If Hunter S. Thompson were still around, I'm pretty sure he would have dug Tonic. No one can really make this kind of claim with any measure of certainty, but I'm fairly confident about this, mainly because for one, we're all on the same page here. The mission is the mission. We are all here to change the world, or at least give it a good shake. The other reason is because I would have been telling Thompson all about Tonic, trying to conjure up a wicked angle for an interview — either about the thing that excited the good doctor at the moment, or about whichever forthcoming book that was soon to be cast into the ever-swelling ranks of Gonzo fans.

Ancient Gonzo Wisdom, the new anthology of collected interviews forthcoming on July 6 is Thompson's newest offering. Edited by Thompson's wife Anita, and with an introduction by Christopher Hitchens, Gonzo Wisdom is packed from cover-to-cover with the essential interviews ranging between 1967 with the publication of Thompson's first book, Hell's Angels, and 2004, just months before the artful death of the sorely missed outlaw journalist. From Douglas Brinkley and the late Tim Russert to Conan O'Brien, P.J. O'Rourke and countless others, this premiere collection of interviews is a brilliant addition to any HST fan's summer reading list. Buy it and get your dose of truth a la HST. You know you're overdue.