January 2020 Auction Ends Thursday, January 30th, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/30/2020
Hunter S. Thompson typed letter signed ''HST'' in type, with Thompson circling his initials at the conclusion. On New Year's Eve, 1964 from Woody Creek, Colorado, Thompson writes to his friend Paul Semonin about Bob Dylan, the impending birth of his son, a union strike in Aspen, and more. Letter, which appeared in ''Proud Highway'', reads in part, ''I have dug into [Frantz] Fanon and I think he is a dead ringer for the real thing. If that's what you were trying to say all summer, I suggest you take some lessons in elementary English expression...Your relationship to him seems very much like your own concept of the American 'liberal.' I don't think Fanon needs Sartre either...Sartre is an eloquent windbag and I'd rather take my business straight...I am only about a third of the way into it [Fanon's work on European colonialism, ''The Wretched of the Earth''] but I already have a strong scent. I'll call him a liar and a fool now and then, but there's no denying that mean, high sound of a two-legged boarbuster.
Between Fanon and Bob Dylan I think the blood is moving in my brain again. Dylan is a goddamn phenomonen [sic], pure gold, and mean as a snake. If you get US records over there, listen to his 'Masters of War' sometime...My credit is strained to the limit and today was my last legal one in this house. From now on I am a squatter...I am doing [an article] on the pending Aspen Mtn strike...the [ski] patrol people seem ready to hit the streets. Union songs are now heard in the Dipsy-Doodle and elsewhere. 'The talkin Union.' With a little humor and local color, I can probably pass it off on the Observer.
I stick by my original comment on Aspen; living here has stunted my wit. Elk meat is fixing my bowels. The move looms at any time, but not until money comes. The tension is ugly. Sandy is in the eighth month. The old story. If I don't lose the scent I may do something worthwhile sometime soon...Returning to this country has crippled my spirit; it is easier to be an American abroad...The mood of the country reminds me of that headline in the New Leader...'The Return of the Syndicate.' My position at this time is 'deal around me.' Send word. HST''. Single page aerogram measures 7.25'' x 12'', with address panel on verso. Very good to near fine condition.
Hunter Thompson Letter From 1964 -- ''...[Bob] Dylan is a goddamn phenomonen [sic], pure gold, and mean as a snake...listen to his 'Masters of War'...''
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