HUNTER S. THOMPSON (1937–2005), the father of Gonzo journalism. Remarkable early two-page typed letter signed "HST", Big Sur, May 21 '61, to a friend he calls "Pa", written when Thompson, 23, was living at Big Sur. He jokes about a trip to Tijuana ("I bought a switchblade knife for 70 cents, one of the finest purchases I have made in many months"), asks for money, frets over his gear being shipped to Aspen, and discusses friends Eugene McGarr, 'Bone' and William Kennedy. He writes of his notorious Rogue magazine/Chicago Tribune article on Big Sur: "Yes, the Big Sur thing was all lies. The Trib cut my last two paragraphs but they ran full steam in the Chi. Trib and I got letters from people asking me how to get jobs and house in Big Sur. Naturally I shit on them, as befits a writer of means." He notes Dorvillier's Pulitzer for editorials (William Dorvillier of the San Juan Star, Thompson's former employer), advises on the friend's book ("the only advice I can offer is to count on it falling through"), and closes, "I am, for the first time in my life, on good terms with my landlady... Honestly pays off. Yeah, HST." With a holograph postscript: "what happened to my negatives?"
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