The Gonzo Suicide

A report from Associated Press indicates that Hunter S. Thompson's death was even tackier than I'd thought:

The widow of journalist Hunter S. Thompson said her husband killed himself while the two were talking on the phone.

"I was on the phone with him, he set the receiver down and he did it. I heard the clicking of the gun," Anita Thompson told the Aspen Daily News in Friday's editions.

She said her husband had asked her to come home from a health club so they could work on his weekly ESPN column — but instead of saying goodbye, he set the telephone down and shot himself.

But wait. . .it gets even better:

His son, daughter-in-law and six-year-old grandson were in the house when the shooting occurred.

I lack the words to express just how disgusted I am that a once-talented writer (yeah, I know, but he did write some great stuff . . . thirty years ago) could be such an asshole. Offing yourself is your call, but how he chose to do it? And with a six-year-old in the house? Pathetic.