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Thompson's gone, Gonzo lives on
By Jeremy Johnson
jjohn308@mscd.edu

Photo by Jeremy Johnson • jjohn308@mscd.edu Illustrator Ralph Steadman shows off a portrait of his late friend, Hunter S. Thompson, Nov. 6 at the Denver News Agency. Steadman was in town to promote his new book The Joke’s Over, which documents his relationship with Thompson. Together, the two created a renegade journalism style known as “Gonzo.”

Famed artist and illustrator Ralph Steadman recently came to Denver to promote his new book, The Joke’s Over, which documents his relationship with the late writer Hunter S. Thompson.

Short, stout and rowdy, Steadman stands as the remaining elder of the Gonzo era and, perhaps, the last representative of the radical political and world views the renegade journalism style embraced.
During a telephone interview and a subsequent speaking engagement on Nov. 6 at the Denver News Agency auditorium, Steadman expressed his concern for the future of a world poisoned by previous generations, without hope and without Hunter.

“We’re in a state where watching your politics, well, it’s something frightening to see,” Steadman said. “I watch the news, and everything becomes a volatile issue for about two days, and then it’s off again. It makes me sad, the whole thing, and I don’t think there’s any hope.”

According to Steadman, his steadfast pessimism is fueled by environmental disregard, a flawed voting system and a corrupt government. Steadman’s cynical views created a common bond with Thompson that turned into a working relationship that lasted for 35 years.

“We were completely different from each other, but it kind of worked,” Steadman said. “It kind of resonated between us, like yin and yang. He was quite an influence on me, and I like to think I was a very big influence on him.”

Thompson committed suicide at his Woody Creek home in February 2005. Steadman was not necessarily surprised, as Thompson had alluded to suicide years before, but was upset by the loss nonetheless.

“When he was gone, it was like a cliff face that fell off the land mass of my psyche,” Steadman said. “He left me wondering about things, the dark side, the underbelly of things.”

Steadman has done hundreds of pictures of his old friend over the years, but with Thompson’s death, he felt he needed to do more.

“I felt strange for a while, and then I thought I might as well write my thoughts of what went down over the past 35 years,” Steadman said. “It helped me get out of the shadow of my old friend, Hunter.”

Over those 35 years, beginning with the Kentucky Derby in 1970, Steadman and Thompson collaborated on dozens of works, including the novels Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and The Curse of Lono. Along with countless portraits of the eccentric writer, Steadman created illustrations accompanying Thompson’s Rolling Stone stories and made movie posters and DVD covers for Where The Buffalo Roam and the film version of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, starring Johnny Depp.

Steadman displayed all these works and more during the Nov. 6 event. Among the digitally displayed works were drawings Steadman did for other books, such as Alice in Wonderland and Animal Farm, and even included illustrations for Flying Dog Brewery, the Colorado-based brewery that supplied beer for the preceding reception.

Thompson’s wife Anita, son Juan and other family members were in attendance. They still consider Steadman to be an integral part of their family, and Juan continues to refer to him as “Uncle Ralph.”

“Ralph and Hunter go way back, and they have always fed off of each other,” Anita Thompson said. “It was sort of a match made in heaven. There was only one man that could bring out what Hunter brought out in (Ralph).”

To the delight of audience members, Steadman began the event by coming out in full Thompson gear, including a brimmed hat, sunglasses and Thompson’s trademark cigarette holder.

Steadman then paced through hundreds of illustrations and photos, offering details about his work and, often, about Thompson. The speaking engagement ended with a question-and-answer session about his life alongside one of the most influential writers of his time.

“Hunter was an old-fashioned American who really loved his constitution and was proud of it,” Steadman said. “He couldn’t bear people like corporate demons and corrupt government fucking with what he considered to be something quite unique.”

Despite his stinging cynicism, Steadman’s demeanor still gives the impression that there might be hope without Hunter, after all. In The Joke’s Over, Steadman makes a coy reference to living to be 100 years old.

"I’d like to see what’s on the other side,” Steadman said. “It would be nice to see some fair play and decency in the world, a recognition of universal human rights. To be able to live to see that would be something worthwhile, and if it takes me to 100 to see it, then so be it.”