American journalist and author (born 1937)

Hunter S. Thompson

Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author, regarded as a pioneer of New Journalism along with Gay Talese, Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, Joan Didion, and Tom Wolfe. He rose to prominence with the book Hell's Angels (1967), for which he lived a year among the Hells Angels motorcycle club to write a first-hand account of their lives and experiences. In 1970, he wrote an unconventional article titled "The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved" for Scanlan's Monthly, which further raised his profile as a countercultural figure. It also set him on the path to establish the subgenre of New Journalism that he called "Gonzo", a style in which the writer becomes central to, and participant in the narrative.

Born

1937

July 18

Died

2005

Era

1930s

Country

—

About

Hunter, in brief

Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author, regarded as a pioneer of New Journalism along with Gay Talese, Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, Joan Didion, and Tom Wolfe. He rose to prominence with the book Hell's Angels (1967), for which he lived a year among the Hells Angels motorcycle club to write a first-hand account of their lives and experiences. In 1970, he wrote an unconventional article titled "The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved" for Scanlan's Monthly, which further raised his profile as a countercultural figure. It also set him on the path to establish the subgenre of New Journalism that he called "Gonzo", a style in which the writer becomes central to, and participant in the narrative.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

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Key dates

  1. 1937 Born
  2. 2005 Died

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Same-day contemporaries

Also born on July 18

Clifford Odets 1906–1963 American director, playwright, and screenwriter (born 1906) Edward Bond 1934– English director, playwright, and screenwriter (died 2024) Elio Di Rupo 1951– Belgian chemist, academic, and politician, 68th Prime Minister of Belgium Hendrik Lorentz 1853–1928 Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1853) Nelson Mandela 1918–2013 South African lawyer and politician, 1st President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918) Philip Snowden 1864–1937 1st Viscount Snowden, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (died 1937) Sarah Kinsley 2000– American singer-songwriter Vasil Levski 1837–1873 Bulgarian activist, founded the Internal Revolutionary Organization (born 1837)

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Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1937

Abner Haynes 1937–2024 American football player (born 1937) Alain Badiou 1937– French philosopher and academic Alice Coltrane 1937–2007 American pianist and composer (died 2007) Barry Switzer 1937– American football player and coach Bill Cosby 1937– American actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter Billy Meier 1937– Swiss author and photographer Birju Maharaj 1937–2022 Indian dancer, composer, singer and exponent of the Lucknow "Kalka-Bindadin" Gharana of Kathak dance (died 2022) Bobby Charlton 1937–2023 English footballer and manager (died 2023) Carlos Lamarca 1937–1971 Brazilian captain (died 1971)

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Hunter's birthday July 18 Hunter's zodiac Cancer When Hunter arrived 1937