ML - Aspen Peak

2014 - Issue 1 - Summer

Aspen Peak - Niche Media - Aspen living at its peak

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A spen certainly has its cache of eccentric characters and celebri- ties, and one of our biggest claims to fame is the late Woody Creek resident and gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson. A 1970 candidate for Aspen sheriff on the "Freak Power" ticket, Thompson lived by his own credo. Holding court in his kitchen at Owl Farm in Woody Creek, he frequented the famous Woody Creek Tavern and chided Aspen's real estate developers. His suicide on February 20, 2005, shocked the community, inspiring literary luminaries, rebels, and fans to pay homage in various ways. In an Aspen Peak article former Sheriff Bob Braudis lamented: "Hunter's suicide rocked me. The last time I saw Hunter was three days before he shot himself. We spent a fantastic night together." While researching roles for the movie versions of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream and The Rum Diary, Johnny Depp became close with Thompson. Fittingly, six months to the day after his death, on August 20, 2005, Depp helped bid farewell to Thompson in spectacular fashion, spending a reported $2 million on a 153 -foot-tall tower and cannon modeled after Thompson's signature clenched fist with two thumbs rising from a dag- ger's hilt. More than 250 guests, including Jack Nicholson, then-Senator John Kerry, Bill Murray, Sean Penn, and Ralph Steadman attended the private ceremony, which included fireworks and plenty of revelry. In front of a full moon and to the strains of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man," Thompson's ashes were shot out with the fireworks over a beauti- ful field in Woody Creek, a mesmerizing and merrymaking tribute. Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson on his Owl Farm ranch in Woody Creek circa 1976. Canonizing a LEGEND HUNTER S. THOMPSON MEMORIAL, AUGUST 20, 2005 PHOTOGRAPHY BY GETTY IMAGES (OBAMA, THOMPSON) ASPENPEAK-MAGAZINE.COM 151 148-155_AP_F_Anniversary_V2_SUM_FALL_14.indd 151 5/6/14 4:50 PM

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