3am was F. Scott’s Fitzgerald’s darkest hour of the soul, but for Hunter it was usually the time to get some work done, as we were this 3am, tidying up “The Rum Diary” for publication. One of Hunter’s favorite scenes in the book was when his alter ego Kemp is overcome by the DT’s –delirium tremors – in his San Juan apartment. We were working on that scene when Hunter suddenly asked me, “Do you know what makes an alcoholic, Wayne?” “No,” I replied, taking another hit on my bee

​July 18, 2026 will be Hunter’s 89th birthday, although for many years he would not acknowledge that date whenever asked. Instead, he would say proudly, “I’m like a thoroughbred. All horses have the same birthday, January 1st.” Which is true. In the world of racing, all horses are considered to have been born on the first day of the year in order to make it easier to calculate age qualifications for a race. ​In Hunter’s case, his claim on New Year’s Day as his birthday w

AI generated podcast by Speechify | Credit: Christopher Dyer, Marfa PR From Wayne Ewing: My friend Christopher Dyer at Marfa Public Radio was experimenting with a new feature of Speechify — an AI program that has gone far beyond just converting text to spoken words. Christopher asked Speechify to “make a podcast about documentary filmmaker Wayne Ewing” — this is the result. Hunter would find this AI frightening and tempting. Listen to the podcast here. Jake A filmmaker stand

Are you a fan of documentary films? If so, you may want to take a deep dive into the legacy of a talented filmmaker who has left a...

Hunter believed in reincarnation. There are a couple of scenes in Breakfast with Hunter where he talks about it. He believed that he had...

We were on the edge of the desert somewhere near Palisade when the drug began to lose its grip. I was following the 32 foot, white...

In 2002, when I was finishing the first of my four films about Dr. Hunter S. Thompson – Breakfast with Hunter – selecting the music for...

In the final episode of The Rum Diary Back-Story Hunter makes a rare appearance reading the book’s Prologue – “San Juan, Winter of 1958.”...

Hunter worked the telephone incessantly during the last ten years of his life, and his telcons with Johnny Depp keep The Rum Diary alive...

Hunter Thompson’s FAX to Holly Sorensen of January, 2001 is still infamous in Hollywood. Every writer and author’s frustration with the...

Last Friday I found Holly Sorensen working in a bungalow at CBS Studio Center just over the hill from Hollywood. Although still...

The Tiki Hut by the pool in Depp’s backyard seemed the perfect spot to fish for a Hollywood producer with money. Johnny and Hunter had...

In December 1999, Hunter and I went to Hollywood to pitch The Rum Diary with Johnny Depp to producers and studios who might put up the...

The call from Hunter woke me up at 1am. I had been expecting it, but had fallen asleep in my cabin on the Frying Pan River. We had...

“I want FOOD! Rum is not enough alone. I shall entitle my story ‘Rum is Not Enough.’ Or ‘ Not by Rum Alone.’ My stamps, envelopes,...

This Episode opens with Hunter and historian Doug Brinkley exploring the “War Room” in the basement of Owl Farm where Doug found the...

For forty years Hunter S. Thompson struggled to finish his first novel – The Rum Diary – and then he fought until he died to make it a...

At high noon on a Monday ten years ago in Denver, Hunter S. Thompson stood on the steps of the Capitol and challenged the State to...