Hunter Thompson has written so many articles for various publications, papers and magazines that there are too many to cover at once, so I hope to cover them publication by publication. I am starting with The National Observer.
Hunter wrote regularly for The National Observer from June 1962 to December 1964. His first year writing for the Observer was spent in South America as their South American correspondent. In 1964 he moved to San Francisco with his wife Sandy, where he began his relationship with the Hells Angels. In 1965 he wrote an article about the Angels for The Nation, titled Motor Cycle Gangs Losers and Outsiders. Which in 1966 became his first published book Hells Angels. You can read his Hells Angels article here. http://www.thenation.com/doc/19650517/thompson
Here are his articles that appeared in The National Observer.
Valencia of Colombia: ‘Leery Optimism’ at Home for Kennedy Visit — June 24, 1962 (p. 11)
Nobody Is Neutral Under Aruba’s Hot Sun
— July 16, 1962 (p. 14)
Adrift and Ad-Libbing: A Footloose American in a Smugglers’ Den
— August 6, 1962 (p.13)
The Ins and the Outs: Democracy Dies in Peru, But Few Seem to Mourn Its Passing
— August 27, 1962 (p. 16)
USIS in Action: How Democracy is Nudged Ahead in Ecuador
— September 17, 1962 (p. 13)
Personal Politics: Ballots in Brazil Will Measure the Allure of Leftist Nationalism
— October 1, 1962 (p. 4)
Troubles in Tin: Operation Triangular: Bolivia’s Fate Rides With It
— October 15, 1962 (p. 13)
Showcase of Democracy: Uruguay Goes to Polls, With Economy Sagging
— November 19, 1962 (p. 14)
Behind the South American Stories: Chatty Letters During a Journey from Aruba to Rio
— December 31, 1962 (p. 14)
Troubled Brazil Holds Key Vote
— January 7, 1963 (pp. 1, 10)
Paraguay to the Polls: It’s a Dictatorship, but Few Seem to Care Enough to Stay and Fight
— January 28, 1963 (p. 17)
Daybreak at the Domino: Brazilian Soldiers Stage a Raid in Revenge
— February 11, 1963 (p. 13)
Brazilian Burdens: Leftist Trend and Empty Treasury Plague the Latin American Giant
— March 11, 1963 (p. 11)
Baffling Bolivia: A Never-Never Land High Above the Sea
— April 15, 1962 (p. 11)
Peru at the Polls: Election Watched as Barometer of Continent’s Anti-Democratic Trend
— May 20, 1963 (p. 12)
Festival of Folk Music: A Time for Sittin’, Listenin’, and Reverie
— June 3, 1963 (p. 16)
The Inca of the Andes: He Haunts the Ruins of His Once-Great Empire
— June 10, 1963 (p. 13)
A Day With a Champion: Kelso Looks Just Like Any $1,307,000 Horse
— July 15, 1963 (pp. 1, 7)
The Extinct Hitchiker: When the Thumb Was a Ticket to Adventures on the Highway
— July 22, 1963 (p. 12)
The Literary Establishment: Where Are the Writing Talents of Yesteryear?
— August 5, 1963 (p. 17)
The Casualties of Culture Shock: Why Anti-Gringo Winds Often Blow South of the Border
— August 19, 1963 (p. 18
Decline of the Lumberjack: An Aussie Paul Bunyan Shows Our Loggers How
— September 2, 1963 (p. 12)
Aspen’s Culture Crowd: Executives Crank Open Philosophy’s Windows
— September 9, 1963 (p. 13)
Wide, Wide World of Books: One of the Darkest Documents Ever Put Down is “The Red Lances”
— October 7, 1963 (p. 19)
What the Trouble is About: Can Brazil Hold Out Until the Next Election?
— October 28, 1963 (p. 13)
“A Singular Man”: Donleavy Proves His Lunatic Humor Is Original
— November 11, 1963 (p. 17)
The Crow, a Novelist, and a Hunt; Man in Search of His Primitive Self
— December 2, 1963 (p. 17)
Mr. Martin in Bolivia: What the Miners Lost in Taking an Irishman
— December 16, 1963 (p. 4)
Not Every Hunter Returns: When Buck Fever Hits Larkspur’s Slopes
— December 16, 1963 (p. 13)
Resort Town in a Tizzy: And Now a Proletariat on Aspen’s Ski Slopes
— February 10, 1964 (p. 12)
Tangles Lines, Tangles Treaties: The Catch is Limited in Indians’ “Fish-in”
— March 9, 1964 (p. 13)
“Arena of Decision”: Dr. Pflaum Looks at the Latin’s, But His View is Tired and Foggy
— March 9, 1964 (p. 19)
Willard Was a Man of Taste: When Beatniks Were Social Lions
— April 20, 1964 (pp. 1, 14)
“Home is the Sailor”: Brazilian’s Fable of a Phoney Carries the Touch of Mark Twain
— April 20, 1964 (p. 17)
Another Doomsday Parable: Golding Tries “Lord of the Flies” Formula Again, But It Falls Short
— April 27, 1964 (p. 16)
“That Poor Old Man”: What Lured Hemingway to Ketchum?
— May 25, 1964 (pp. 1, 13)
“A City on the Brink”: Whither the Old Copper Capital of the West? To Boom or Bust?
— June 1, 1964 (p. 13)
The Atmosphere Has Never Been Quite the Same
— June 15, 1964 (pp. 1, 16)
Mike Mansfield’s Home Grounds: Why Montana’s “Shanty Irishman” Corrals Votes Year After Year
— June 22, 1964 (p. 12)
Living in the Time of Alger, Greeley, Debs
— July 13, 1964 (pp. 1, 16)
The Spirited Scotch: Bagpipes Wail, Cabers Fly as the Clans Gather
— September 14, 1964 (p. 12)
You’d Be Fried Like a Piece of Lean Bacon
— September 28, 1964 (pp. 1, 19)
People Want Bad Taste…In Everything
— November 2, 1964 (pp. 1, 15)
Steak for a Young Novelist: A Surgeon’s Fingers Fashion a Literary Career
— December 21, 1964 (p. 17)
Thanks again for the great information. Your site is continuing to improve for true Gonzo fans.
Sincerely,
Your colleague sipping Newcastle Brown Ale at a cabin in Georgia’s Blue Ridge Mountains.
Fantastic! Now can anyone tell me how to get my hands on these articles? The Observer pieces featured in The Great Shark Hunt are among my favourite HST works and I am desperate to read the rest!