South African liberation hero Raymond Mhlaba dies on the same night that the Godfather of Gonzo journalism commits suicide. Ariel Sharon sits at the head of an Israeli government that calls for unilateral withdrawal from Gaza strip in the same weekend that Patty Bouvier comes out of the closet.

Four events, utterly unrelated, bring to mind the old Chinese Curse, “May you live in interesting times.” We do.

Raymond Mhlaba, of whom most of you have never heard, was one of the Rivonia Eight and an African National Congress loyalist whose name will inevitably fall well below those of Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo and even Thabo Mbeki when people talk about the transition from apartheid to nonracial democracy. It should not. Mhlaba was 85 years old. In a statement, Thabo Mbeki wrote of Mhlaba:"He endured a generation of incarceration under the apartheid regime, together with fellow heroes of our nation and he managed to play a valued public role as our democracy took root. The people and government of South Africa salute his memory as we recall his committed life endeavours. His death robs us of yet another hero -- a member of a splendid, unforgettable generation." Please read the Mail & Guardian story of this great man’s passing. Go well, old friend.

It probably ought not to come as a shock that Hunter S. Thompson went out on his own terms. The man who brought us not only Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas but also Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72 (For my money the single greatest contemporary account of a political campaign ever written. Rereading that book reminds us of just what a fantastic observer of politics Thompson once was) had lost his fastball in recent years. Perhaps it was the addled effects of the committed gonzo lifestyle. Perhaps he no longer had the energy to throw himself full-force into a story the way he once did. The man who once rode with the Hell’s Angels (and got himself stomped in the end), who gave us marvelous, brilliant, witty collections of published essays such as The Great Shark Hunt, and who introduced a whole generation to an entirely new type of writing will be sorely missed. He spawned a generation of imitators. Like Nirvana, a band that did the same, most of the knock-offs were inferior, sometimes unreadable. I know I wrote a paper in college in the gonzo style that the professor did not appreciate. It is a rare thing for someone to bring about something almost wholly new and innovative in something as ubiquitous as writing or music, but Thompson did so. The afterlife just became a whole lot more interesting.

Meanwhile, who would have thought it? Ariel Sharon might be the man to bring about reconciliation with the Palestinians. At the minimum he has changed the terms of the debate. The old Likud warrior is now accomplishing things that Labor Prime Ministers never could, and he is using the Labour template. Stay tuned for a link to a pending piece related to this issue.

Finally, Patty came out of the closet on a night when Springfield legalized gay marriage for the purpose of drawing tourists. Homer naturally got into the business of conducting weddings, first for gay couples and then for anyone (or anything) who so chose. The most subtly subversive of all television shows did it again. Anti-gay conservatives (or what I like to call “the bigot bloc”) are up in arms, naturally. Meanwhile advocates of marriage rights for gay Americans are celebrating this now-hoary television cartoon show. It seems somewhat apropos that patty and Selma ended up together as spinsters again when the show ended.

You cannot make this stuff up. Well, except the parts involving the cartoon universe.

AJ Fucile - 2/24/2005

Dear God, I've made an a** of myself....sorry, you're absolutely right.

I did read The Great Shark Hunt & loved it...

One of the funnier HST stories I heard was ehen Disney sued him for selling pictures of Disney characters he had shot with a shotgun...I guess he liked the pattern it made....

Derek Charles Catsam - 2/24/2005

AJ --
But naked Lunch is William S. Burroughs, right?
dc

AJ Fucile - 2/24/2005

Naked Lunch. Dear...God....the first time I saw the film it took me a week to get back a sence of reality...

Derek Charles Catsam - 2/24/2005

Greg --
HST's letters were published in two large volumes a cuple of years back. I have not gotten the second volume, but the first volume is great. As with all letters collections, a bit uneven at times, but on the whole they provide a great insight into Thompson and his development as a writer and larger-than-life persona.
dc

Greg Robinson - 2/23/2005

Haven't read the letters...thanks for the tip. Bukowski's 3 volumes of letters are my favorite of his writings.

Derek Charles Catsam - 2/23/2005

The Rum Diary is great because it was published just a few years back, but stems from his youth, before he was Hunter S. Thompson, Gonzo Journalist. That is also why the first collection of his letters is so great.

dc

Greg Robinson - 2/23/2005

My personal favorite is 'The Rum Diary'. It's a nice preview of things to come by the good Dr.

Derek Charles Catsam - 2/23/2005

Not to mention Tinky Winky

Rich Holmes - 2/23/2005

Our boy Sponge Bob Squarepants. Patty did him a huge favor by taking the heat off him.