Journalists who knew Hunter S. Thompson shared their memories of the late pioneer journalist and presented a documentary about his life Saturday night in the Wechsler Theatre as part of the Reel Journalism film festival.
Before the movie, Michael Isikoff, a writer for Newsweek, spoke to the crowd about the man he knew and admired, and shared some stories about Thompson.
"Hunter had two young women living with him," Isikoff said, at the time the first met, "neither of who were his wife. How'd this happen? [The girls] had written to Thompson about [tax advice] and obviously who else would you ask?"
That was Thompson: a man who attracted all sorts of people, from George Plimpton to Johnny Depp, P.J. O'Rourke to Warren Zevon.
"Celebrities recognized the authenticity," said Curtis Morgan, formerly of the Aspen Daily News, who also spoke at the event. "They considered him the original source."
The documentary, "Breakfast with Hunter," covered everything from his trial for drunk driving in Aspen, the long process of making the movie "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and his general thoughts on life.
He was a larger-then-life character, who spent time in fortified compound outside of Aspen, Colo. In the documentary, Thompson spoke with a glass of scotch in his hand, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and a crazy hat on his head.
Making "Fear and Loathing" was a difficult process, the film revealed. Although Thompson was brilliant, he had trouble working with others and got into arguments over the script causing the film's writer and director to walk out.
Thompson asked Johnny Depp, who played the movie's lead character, to stay on until they found a new director. Thompson eventually hired a director to work on the movie, and in exchange Thompson taught the director's bird to talk.
After the film, Morgan took questions from the audience. He said that on Aug. 5, Thompson's ashes are going to be fired from a giant cannon, according to his last wishes.
Sebastian Christ of the Washington Semester program said he appreciated that Thompson was different from many other journalists.
"I like the idea that objective journalism isn't always right," Christ said, "and that you have to be subjective to tell the truth."
The Reel Journalism included films and discussions in the Greenberg Theatre on Wisconsin Avenue and the Wechsler Theatre in Mary Graydon Center. The annual event was sponsored by the School of Communication.
