"This man had an impressive head chiseled from one piece of bone, and the top part was covered down to his eyes by a floppy-brimmed sun hat. His top half was draped in a loose-fitting hunting jacket of multi-colored patchwork. He wore seersucker blue pants, and the whole torso was pivoted on a pair of huge white plimsolls with a fine red trim around the bulkheads. Damn near 6-foot-6 of solid bone and meat holding a beaten-up leather bag across his knee and a loaded cigarette holder between the arthritic fingers of his other hand."
-Ralph Steadman, on meeting Louisville boy Hunter S. Thompson at the 1970 Kentucky Derby
For those too young to know, or too old to remember, the Kentucky Derby was the setting for the birth of Gonzo journalism. Scanlon Magazine published The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved, by Hunter Thompson soon after the '70 Run for the Roses.
It picks up the local color as only a local boy can, and is still a pretty good read.
Should you happen to find yourself in the infield at Churchill Downs this afternoon be on the lookout for Mrs. T's favored #2 child please. He's likely to be the one over-served.
Also, tonight is a super-moon. Go outside, have a look see.
Toad
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2 comments:
When I read this article all those years ago I was transfixed. You know, the sun is out, the sky is blue but the day is not the same without the Doctor out there somewhere cheering us all on. I tracked him down to Woody Creek in 1983 and just watched him from a distance with some pals. That was all my heart could stand....
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
Jane says it all Toad and I will be out on my balcony looking at the moon tonight!
I have featured an Interview with Tina from The Enchanted Home...
xoxo
Karena
Art by Karena
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