For those too young to remember or those to old to care, He was an American asset. Gonzo journalism was his forte.

No one will ever write a better portrayal of Las Vegas than HST did. If you have not read it get a copy and laugh until you hurt yourself.The movies did not hold a candle to the book and the Steadman drawings.

Remember his statement along with many more in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, "No, this is not a good town for psychedelic drugs, reality is already too twisted."

I met the man once in Sioux Falls SD at the end of the 1972 Presidential Campaign in the lobby of the Holiday Inn typing out the end of the campaign story that is in Fear and Loathing on The Campaign Trail 1972. Everybody was gone, Hunter was there with one grapefruit and a bottle of Wild Turkey and a nasty looking knife.

I was 19 years old at the time and got to have some conversation with him. Got to share half of the grapefruit with him and eat it the way he did. Then guzzles out of the Turkey bottle. Then an invite to walk around outside and get some fresh air. Guzzle some more Turkey and finish it. I was getting queezy from guzzling straight whiskey of that proof.

He told me he would send me an autographed copy of Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 1972 when it was published. I gave him my address and thought, "Yeah, Right."

When it was published I got a copy it was signed, "To Mark, Thanks for finishing the campaign with me in Sioux Falls.The walk was fun, the whiskey was still cold, what more could we have asked for other than a few McGovern groupies and a padded cell. HST"

Still one of my prized possessions.

God Bless you HST, you definitely went out in style and will long be remembered.

Mark