Tributes for Hunter

The son of the recently deceased legendary journalist Hunter S. Thompson, Juan, says that his father has been thinking of suicide for a long time.

"One thing that he said many times was that, 'I'm a road man for the lords of Karma.' It's a cryptic saying. But there's an implication there that he may have decided that his work was done and that he didn't want to overstay his welcome; it was time to go." Thompson was on the phone with his wife we he shot himself. She was at a health club, and he asked her to come help him on his writing. He set the phone on the tabletop, still on, and she heard clicks that sounded like he had started typing. But the clicking noise was her husband loading and cocking the .45-caliber handgun he used to take his life. She said she didn't hear a gunshot before she hung up. Thompson's son, daughter-in-law and 6-year-old grandson William were at his home, but the adults thought a book had fallen on the kitchen floor and didn't give it much thought at first.

Plus: The web mourns the death of the "King of Gonzo":: the blog tracking service Technorati lists 12,209 current posts dedicated to Hunter. Countless newspapers also honor the memory of this great author with tributes. some great ones are published in the Guardian, the Los Angeles Weekly, San Francisco Weekly. Good reads also here, and here.