January 2019 Auction Ends Thursday, January 31st, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/31/2019
Hunter S. Thompson typed letter signed from 1959, in his classic entertaining style, with cutting cultural insights, and relating a funny story about an extended stay at a lady friend's apartment in Virginia Beach. Writing to his high school friend Paul Semonin from Louisville, Kentucky, undated letter is circa late August 1959 when Thompson lived at home for a few months after working at ''Time'' magazine in New York.
Letter reads in part, ''...suitcase arrived today...Heat is virtually intolerable here, was refused a beer last night until i drove home for my ID, and still no word from Viking on the book. Trip across Va. and W. Va. was horrible beyond my wildest nightmares...
Tell Mina that her friend Mary Something Hilliard is a dullard of the worst sort. I called her in a fit of desperation, tired, hungry, broke, and heard from a stupid happy little voice that it was 'good to hear from me...and wasn't it fine that the whole world was so soft and peachy.' Southern hospitality: total zero. If nothing else, my trip convinced me that the white, southern anglo-saxon 'race' is without a doubt the world's stupidest...
Forbes is a bit upset over the way things have been going recently...I hate this sort of thing, but they keep happening anyway. Must be something in my personality. And speaking of that, I had a weird little run-in at Va. Beach. On the last leg of my trip I was picked up by a drunk girl just outside of the Little Creek Naval Station. It was too late to call Mina's people, so I told this girl to let me out on a deserted part of the beach so I could get some sleep. Instead, she insisted that I go to her place, which she was in the process of vacating. Seems she was a nurse and worked at night. I agreed, of course, and was placed in this fine, beach=front apartment where i found food, liquor, and excellent accommodations, I stayed there for three days, and was accosted by the landlady, who informed me that the apartment did not belong to the girl at all, but to a man who had 'lied, and told me she was his wife.' The landlady was apparently crazed with grief and rage, muttering in some foreign jargon about calling the police, locking me out, and having all three of us (man, girl, and myself) arrested. I ignored her and went on in, leaving a while later to swim and wander around the beach. I woke up the next morning around eight, hearing noises, and found a huge man in shorts and cigar standing over the bed, jabbering about friends and bastards sleeping in his bed. In a matter of minutes, the girl arrived from work; and in another half-hour the goddamned landlady was there, adding her voice to the din. It was nothing less than wild; shouting, screaming threats, accusations---and me standing around in my underwear, tired, bewildered, sick, and dirty. That's about the time I decided to call Mina's people, and you know the story from there. Needless to say, I left for Louisville immediately...Cheers [signed] HST''.
One page, single-spaced letter, typed mostly in red ink is signed by Thompson in red ink at conclusion. Measures 8.5'' x 11''. Some chipping and short closed tears along margins, and toning to paper, overall very good condition, with bold signature by Thompson.
Hunter S. Thompson Letter Signed From 1959 -- ''...a huge man in shorts and a cigar standing over the bed, jabbering about...bastards sleeping in his bed...''
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