The last time I saw Hunter also was in Aspen, about three years ago, at a summer party at the Goldsteins, attended by more than 100 people, most of whom, like me, were there for a NORML continuing legal education conference. Towards the end of the evening, Hunter and Webster Hubbell (who was speaking at the conference) took off in Hunter's huge, classic red convertible, top down, waving to the rest of us. We all wondered if someone should go after them, so Webster would get back safely, but nobody did. And they both made it back just fine.
One more note: Hunter was a mensch. He approached lawyers Gerry Goldstein and Jerry Lefcourt and asked them to convince the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers to help publicize the plight of Lisl Auman, a young Colorado woman serving a life sentence for a murder that occurred after she was in police custody. The organizaton did, writing an amicus brief for her. Hunter devoted several of his Hey Rube! columns to Lisl, attended a rally for her in Denver, wrote a great article about her in the June, 2004 Vanity Fair, and more. Lisl's case could be decided any day by the Colorado Supreme Court. If the Court rules against her, she will spend the rest of her life in prison. Here's some of what Hunter had to say about her case:
I have a flash of Good News from the Police Atrocity front, which is heating up in Denver. Stand back! Good News is rare in the Criminal Justice System, but every once in a while you find it, and this is one of those times.
To wit: The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers has formally entered the Appeals trial of young Lisl Auman -- the girl who remains locked up in a cell at the Colorado State Prison for the Rest of Her Life with No Possibility of Parole for a bogus crime. Lisl is a living victim of a cold-blooded Political Trial that will cast a long shadow on Denver for many years to come -- she is the only person ever convicted in the United States for Felony Murder while in police custody when the crime happened.
The NACDL brings a heavyweight presence to this case that will quickly level the playing field. Nobody needs a public fight with a team of Elite warriors from the NACDL. It will be like having to fight Joe Frazier every day for six months. There will be injuries, and there will be more than one trip to the Emergency Room this time. No more easy wins for the black hats. The worm is about to turn. That is also a good early bet. Take my word for it.
Two weeks later, he wrote:
I don't do this very often -- Never, in fact -- but this case is such an outrage that it haunts me & gives me bad dreams at night. I am not a Criminal Lawyer, but I have what might be called "a very strong background" in the Criminal Justice System & many of my friends & associates are widely known as the best legal minds in that cruel & deadly business.
It is no place for amateurs, and even seasoned professionals can make mistakes that are often fatal. The System can grind up the Innocent as well as the Guilty, and that is what I believe happened to 20-year-old Lisl Auman, who was unjustly found guilty of murder and sent to prison for the rest of her Life Without Parole.
In all my experience with Courts & Crimes & downright Evil behavior by the Law & the Sometimes criminal cops who enforce it, this is the Worst & most Reprehensible miscarriage of "Justice" I've ever encountered -- and that covers a lot of rotten things, including a few close calls of my own. Which might easily have gone the other way if not for the help of some hammerhead Lawyers who came to my aid when I was in desperate trouble. (See "Songs of the Doomed," Summit Books, 1990.)
I learned a lot about Karma in those moments, and one thing that sticks with me is a quote from Edmund Burke that says: "THE ONLY THING NECESSARY FOR THE TRIUMPH OF EVIL IS FOR GOOD MEN TO DO NOTHING." That is what got me into the Lisl Auman case, and that is why I will stay in it until this brutal Wrong is Righted....
Indeed. It is no small trick to get a "Convicted cop-killer" out of prison -- but it will be a little easier in this case, because Lisl no more killed a cop than I did. She was handcuffed in the backseat of a Denver Police car when the cop was murdered in cold blood by a vicious skinhead who then shot himself in the head & left the D.A. with nobody to punish for the murder -- except Lisl. It is a long story & I can't explain it all now. But you can find it on the Web at Lisl.com.
Hunter, Rest in Peace, you will be missed. My sincere condolences to his wife Anita and son Juan, whom I've never met, and to Sheriff Bob Braudis and Gerry and Chris Goldstein, whom I know well enough to know that Hunter's passing will leave a major hole in their lives.
For younger readers who may not be familiar with Hunter, who was a true cultural icon, or his great writings, his bio at the end of his Hey Rube! column reads:
His books include "Hell's Angels," "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," "Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72," "The Great Shark Hunt," "The Curse of Lono," "Generation of Swine," "Songs of the Doomed," "Screwjack," "Better Than Sex," "The Proud Highway," "The Rum Diary," and "Fear and Loathing in America." His latest book, "Kingdom of Fear," has just been released. A regular contributor to various national and international publications, Thompson now lives in a fortified compound near Aspen, Colo. His column, "Hey, Rube," appears regularly on Page 2.
One of my favorite Hunter pieces ever was his eulogy to Richard Nixon , "He Was a Crook," published in Rolling Stone (June 16, 1994.) One quote:
If the right people had been in charge of Nixon's funeral, his casket would have been launched into one of those open-sewage canals that empty into the ocean just south of Los Angeles. He was a swine of a man and a jabbering dupe of a president. Nixon was so crooked that he needed servants to help him screw his pants on every morning. Even his funeral was illegal. He was queer in the deepest way. His body should have been burned in a trash bin.
Here is his more recent take on the evil Bush empire , Kerry and the 2004 election. Or go to Rolling Stone and read Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, 2004.
Update: Crooks and Liars has a video clip of Hunter. Steve Gilliard has a journalist's perspective. Author Marc Cooper has this great assortment of Hunter material.
Update: We continue our eulogy with links and Hunter writings here and here.
