hunter s. thompson's 1958 cover letter for a newspaper job - boing boing

7/31/2019 Hunter S. Thompson's 1958 Cover Letter for a Newspaper Job - Boing Boing

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Hunter S. Thompson's1958 cover letter for anewspaper jobBy David Pescovitz at 10:56 am Tuesday,Oct 5

In October 1958, a pre-fame Hunter S.Thompson applied for a job at the

Vancouver Sun. The Ottawa Citizen recently

published the quintessentially-Hunter cover

letter, which also appeared in The Proud

Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern

Gentleman, 1955-1967 (The Fear and

Loathing Letters, Vol. 1). Here it is:

Vancouver Sun

TO JACK SCOTT,

VANCOUVER SUN

October 1, 1958 57 Perry

Street New York City

Hunter S. Thompson's 1958 cover letter for a newspaper job - ... http://boingboing.net/2010/10/05/hunter-s-thompsons-1

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EDITORS

Mark Frauenfelder

Cory Doctorow

Sir,

I got a hell of a kick reading

the piece Time magazine

did this week on The Sun.

In addition to wishing you

the best of luck, I'd also like

to offer my services.

Since I haven't seen a copy

of the "new" Sun yet, I'll

have to make this a

tentative offer. I stepped

into a dung-hole the last

time I took a job with a

paper I didn't knowanything about (see

enclosed clippings) and I'm

not quite ready to go

charging up another blind

alley.

By the time you get this

letter, I'll have gotten hold

of some of the recent issues

of The Sun. Unless it lookstotally worthless, I'll let my

offer stand. And don't think

that my arrogance is

unintentional: it's just that

I'd rather offend you now

than after I started working

for you.

I didn't make myself clear

to the last man I worked for

until after I took the job. It

was as if the Marquis de

Sade had suddenly found

himself working for Billy

Graham. The man despised


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David Pescovitz

Xeni Jardin

Editors

Rob Beschizza

Managing Editor

Maggie

Koerth-Baker

Science Editor

Jason Weisberger

Publisher-at-Large

Ken Snider

Sysadmin

Dean Putney

Developer

Antinous

Lead Moderator

Avram & Felton

Moderators

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Video Editor

Terry Thurlow

Finance

Ed SzylkoInsurance

me, of course, and I had

nothing but contempt for

him and everything he

stood for. If you asked him,

he'd tell you that I'm "not

very likable, (that I) hate

people, (that I) just want to

be left alone, and (that I)

feel too superior to mingle

with the average person."

(That's a direct quote from

a memo he sent to the

publisher.)

Nothing beats having good

references.

Of course if you asked some

of the other people I've

worked for, you'd get a

different set of answers.

If you're interested enough

to answer this letter, I'll be

glad to furnish you with a

list of references --

including the lad I work fornow.

The enclosed clippings

should give you a rough

idea of who I am. It's a year

old, however, and I've

changed a bit since it was

written. I've taken some

writing courses from

Columbia in my spare time,

learned a hell of a lot about

the newspaper business,

and developed a healthy

contempt for journalism as

a profession.


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"How can you be serious?" Not by wearingthis T-shirt! The classic Mark PawsonT-shirt, updated for 2012.

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As far as I'm concerned, it's

a damned shame that a

field as potentially dynamic

and vital as journalism

should be overrun with

dullards, bums, and hacks,

hag-ridden with myopia,

apathy, and complacence,

and generally stuck in a bog

of stagnant mediocrity. If

this is what you're trying to

get The Sun away from,

then I think I'd like to work

for you.

Most of my experience has

been in sports writing, but I

can write everything from

warmongering propaganda

to learned book reviews.

I can work 25 hours a day if

necessary, live on any

reasonable salary, and don't

give a black damn for job

security, office politics, oradverse public relations.

I would rather be on the

dole than work for a paper I

was ashamed of.

It's a long way from here to

British Columbia, but I

think I'd enjoy the trip.

If you think you can use

me, drop me a line.

If not, good luck anyway.


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NEXT POST!

Sincerely, Hunter S.

Thompson

The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate

Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967 (The Fear

and Loathing Letters, Vol. 1) (Amazon,

thanks Gil Kaufman!)

Trailer for new Hunter Thompson

documentary

Hunter S. Thompson photos: new

book and gallery exhibit

Gonzo: the Life of Hunter S.

Thompson

Hunter S. Thompson leaves voicemailfor an A/V dealer

Hunter Thompson's last written

words

Hunter S Thompson tribute beers

with Steadman labels

Fear And Loathing: The Board Game

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DAVID PESCOVITZCollector of anomalies, esoterica, and

curiosities.

SH


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Crossbones Wall

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Android Mini

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Boba Fett - Star

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Like

Sort by oldest first

Comments for this page are closed.

Showing 40

comments

and 278 others liked this.

Here's another fun Hunter S

Thompson letter:

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2....

chris

Working link:

http://www.lettersofnote.com

/2...

Anonymous

Worki

ng

link:

http:/

/www.

lettersofnote

.com/

2...

Holy fucking crap... get

Kimmo


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a load of this comment.

Anony

mous

said...

Blah,blah,

fuckin

g blah.

Hunte

r

knew

his

work

deserved

better

treatm

ent

and

gave

this

inflate

dbitch

a

literar

y

flailin

g for

giving

him

anyless.

That

said,

stop

suckin


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g this

man's

cock.

Thom

pson

isdead

and

gone,

and I

doubt

he

would

care

about

this

letter'

s

recept

ion

much

more

than

he did

the

ammu

nition

that

he

braine

d

himsel

f with.

He

wasn't

a

legend

ary

writer


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; he

simply

used

abrasi

ve

polishwhere

most

weak-

minde

d

hacks

nostal

gically

glosse

d

over.

He

had a

way

with

words

few do

or

ever

will,

but a

literar

y giant

does

not

that

make.

Sadly,

his

body

of

work

will be


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legend

ary -

not

becau

se of

itssignifi

cant

qualit

y and

insigh

t - but

becau

se

cocks

ucking

,

hipste

r-

cred-s

eeking

meatb

ag

swine

will

contin

ue to

add

his

name

to

their

"My

Favori

te

Autho

rs"

colum

ns on


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Faceb

ook

and

the

like

whilethey

read

little

to

none

of his

work.

This is

basica

lly

rubbi

ng his

ashes

on

your

face

and

procla

iming,

"I AM

GONZ

O

TOO!"

No

you

fuckin

g are

not.

You

are

swine.

You

are


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pigs-i

n-

waitin

g that

want

topostur

e

thems

elves

as

somet

hing

you

collect

ively

canno

t

grasp.

It isn't

an

Acapu

lco

shirt

you

can

put

on, it

isn't

your

shiny

"Bid

Red

Shark

"

autom

obile,

it isn't

the


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rum

in

your

glass

nor

thecigare

ttes in

your

pipe

stem,

and if

you

think

you

have

it, you

shoul

d blow

your

brains

out

too. It

died

with

Hunte

r

becau

se he

knew

pigs

and

all

mann

er of

terribl

e

beasts

would


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try to

align

thems

elves

with

something

they

feared

becau

se

they

lacked

the

power

to

compr

ehend

, the

"true

grit."

In all

manif

estatio

ns of

the

phras

e, he

was

essent

ially

telling

all of

you

(not

just

this

lazy

bitch)


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soulle

ss

fad-se

ekers

out

therenot

willin

g to

comm

it to

anythi

ng to

go

fuck

yourse

lves

(much

better

than I

or

anyon

e else

can).

Put on

anoth

er

mask

and

decora

te

your

swine

shell

with

insecu

rities,

if only

to


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cover

your

piggy

featur

es

fromdiscer

ning

eyes.

Make

no

mista

ke,

THE

WOR

LD

SEES

YOU

FOR

WHA

T YOU

ARE

AND

WE

WILL

KILL

YOU

FOR

IT.

Nothi

ng is

so bad

as

huma

ns

lackin

g

identit

y and


7 of 34 5/23/12 10:0


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even

more

the

origin

ality

tomake

their

own.

Thievi

ng,

lying

swine.

Fuck

you

all.

7 July

2010

08:18

Not sure I entirely

agree, but that's one

impressive rant.

That is a great

rant.

And it would beeven greater to

fisk it with

super-polite

remonstrations.

Teller


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That is such a

rip off of HST's

style. Oh, the

irony!

robuluz

Yeah, it's

pretty

fractal : )

Kimm

To me it

reads like

someone

chanellin

g HST

through

theSpider

Jerusale

m filter.

MrFox


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OttAwa not OttOwa

anniearonburg

Thank you!

- An Ottawaian

IRC

Did he get the job?

Patrick Dodds

He did not.

I really recommend hiscollected letters to anyone

who digs his work (I'm about

half way through the second

volume now). You can see the

evolution of a lot of his

philosophy (though a solid

groundwork was laid very

early), and it's cool to see him

struggle with his style.

The letters are much milder in

tone, in general, than the

fiction/nonfiction he

published.

querent


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Publis

hing

for

Dum

mies"

(orwhate

ver it's

called)

The difference is that

HST was a real genius

and one of a kind

creative writer with

balls of steel. Cory is a

pop-sci "author" hack.

There simply is no

comparison. It's like

comparing Jean-Paul

Sartre and Clive

Cussler. Or something.

Yikes. I agree

that HST was

one of a kind,

and he's my

favoriteamerican writer.

But I have dug

all of Cory's

books I've read.

Just saying.

querent


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You can see the

evolution of a lot of his

philosophy (though a

solid groundwork was

laid very early), and

it's cool to see him

struggle with his style.

The letters are much

milder in tone, in

general, than the

fiction/nonfiction hepublished.

Interestingly, he

breaks a rule Cory lays

out explicitly in

"Science Fiction

Publishing for

Dummies" (or

whatever it's called)

I think writing is about

setting rules and

breaking rules, where

and when you are

good enough. A high

stakes test. No mercy.

What a match for

Thompson'spersonality! Life is a

moving target.

My respect for

Thompson grows. He

had the "right kind of

agnot


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eyes."

The letter seems

Hunter-esque. He

juggles any reasons

someone might care

about the truth against

smoke, mirrors and

bullshit, using imagery

that illuminates the

human gut. If you

don't like him, good,

you are out of his hair.

I don't know that my

respect overcomes mycontempt though.

Another of his

characteristics,

cruelty, had limits, I

admit, after which he

would stand up

against cruelty. But I

am unsure he ever

succeeded in resolving

that issue.

His method of suicide

was cruel to his loved

ones. I know he had

little tolerance for the

euphemisms of

civilization because

something within had

less tolerance for his

own frailty. ergo,

drugs, maybe. You can

hear it laced in the

genius of his words.


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But he just couldn't

seem to effect a buffer

between that those

close to him. Guess

that is why he was

him.

Christ, what an asshole.

ethancoop

I disagree - I think the fact

that he skirts so close to being

an asshole and doesn't hit it is

what makes this letter so

classy. He even explains in the

letter why he's doing it - that

he didn't do it last time and he

got burned.

The whole point of him

playing up his assholery is to

demonstrate to his employer

that what he cares about is

writing good words about

good things for good people(taking care to define "good"),

and pretty much nothing else.

If they didn't like the letter,

they wouldn't be the kind of

person he'd want to work for.

Fang Xianfu


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having left.

I would have hired him on the merits

of that letter alone.

Anonymous

Flying Spaghetti Monster, what an

awesome guy.

EarthtoGeoff

If you think you can

use me, drop me a

line.

If not, good luckanyway.

That right there is how every

jobseeker's cover letter should close.

This might be the most sensible thing

Thompson's written that I've ever

read. "Here's who I am, here's what

you can expect, here's what I expect,

if it sounds mutually beneficial let'sdo it, if not let's not waste each

other's time."

Not knowing anything else about the

man, if I liked his samples, I'd hire

Donald Petersen


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him. Of course, knowing Thompson

in retrospect, I might come to regret

that. But I'd probably sell a pile of

newspapers in the interim, before the

liability costs mounted too high.

And another:

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2...

Anonymous

The letter Thompson wrote in

application for the Governorship of

American Samoa is a timeless classic.

"The Proud Highway" is my favorite

Thompson book, because you get a

glimpse of who Thompson was, and

what he was about, before he wrote

his own legend.

Guesstimate Jones

Very upfront letter. He laid out

everything except Hey, let's meet for

a drink.

Teller

Good stuff, there. I remember

reading that letter in The Proud

Snakefarmer


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there's a country to your north.

*sigh*

yanks ...

All hail HST... what a champion.

Did he ever have anything to do with

Kurt Vonnegut? I imagine those two

could have produced some extremely

entertaining conversations...

Kimmo

Editors these days (if they ever read

it at all) would likely throw it straight

in the trash after seeing the words "...

like to offer my services".

minamisan

"overrun with dullards, bums, and

hacks, hag-ridden with myopia,

apathy, and complacence, and

generally stuck in a bog of stagnant

mediocrity"....sounds like the Albany

Times Union

Anonymous

re: Anon referring to the ...(that I)...

Anonymous


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That's Thompson "editing" his

former boss's memo, not someone

editing Thompson.

Please spell Ottawa as if you know


yes, many very famous and

important folks came from Canada:

Shana Twain, William Shatner, Peter

Jennings. How can anyone not know

that?

Anonymous

Please spell Ottawa as if you know


Well, we know the country to our

'north' is Russia. But practicallyspeaking, Ottawa is the second

largest city in the 51st state (51-54th,

not really sure which) and as such we

should still spell it correctly....

Anonymous

Awesome post. I swear, I could readeverything I could get my hands on

about this man. Just so you know

there is a very cool site featuring

Hunter S Thompson T-shirts that I

think is awesome too. These are the

CuriousInkling


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M Subscribe by email S RSS

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Happy Mutants LLC in the United States

and other countries.

most amazing art t-shirts tributing

Hunter S Thompson I've ever seen.

Really beautiful stuff!

Hey, I'd hire him. Love him/hate

him. he had the the talent to get

people right riled up, his best gift.

Not many people are willing,or able.

to get in the face of the powers that

be,let 'er rip,then laugh his ass, then

do it again.Wherever he may be, may

he find his Bliss.

Anonymous


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hunter s. thompson's 1958 cover letter for a newspaper job - boing boing

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