Thompson Goes Out with a Bang

Hunter S. Thompson never let anything get in the way of a good party. Not even death.

The legendary gonzo journalist, who committed suicide on Feb. 20 at age 67, was given a fitting send-off Saturday night as his ashes were blasted out of a cannon atop a 153-foot tower outside his Colorado home.

The ceremony, attended by more than 300 close friends and family, was not so much a funeral service than a grand finale honoring Thompson's tumultuous life as author, counter-culture icon and gadfly.

Among the invitation-only guests: Johnny Depp, who played Thompson in the 1998 feature film version of the author most famous novel, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas; Sean Penn, who's planning to adapt Thompson's cult classic The Curse of Lono to the big screen; and Bill Murray, who starred in the movie version of the author's Where the Buffalo Roam.

According to Thompson's only son, Juan, former Democratic presidential nominees John Kerry and George McGovern and singer Lyle Lovett were also on hand for the affair, which was closed to the public and the press.

Depp, a close friend of Thompson's, picked up the $2.5 million price tag for the extravaganza, which in the spirit of the late lamented's hard-living ways offered plenty of booze, mostly in the form of champagne toasts, and entertainment.

But the main attraction was definitely the scattering of Thompson's ashes, coming on the six-month anniversary of his death.

The tower, constructed adjacent to Thompson's home on Owl Farm just outside of Aspen, was built in the shape of a clenched fist grasping a peyote button (modeled after Thompson's logo). The canon sat on top.

With Japanese drummers building the suspense, the eccentric author's cremated remains were launched skyward at approximately 8:45 p.m., immediately followed by red, white, blue and green fireworks. The tower's emblem then flashed blue and green while speakers blared Bob Dylan's classic "Mr. Tambourine Man."

The party then reportedly kicked into high gear with the song "Spirit in the Sky" and also featured readings of selected Thompson works.

Earlier in the afternoon, about a hundred fans, some of whom had driven hundreds of miles, turned up outside the heavily guarded estate to toast their hero. And in keeping with the psychedelic vibe, they were greeted by--of all things--a robot festooned with Thompson's gonzo fist symbol.

"I'm here to celebrate Hunter S. Thompson," the robot said, per the Aspen Times.

When asked its name and hometown, the robot replied: "Hotshot. I built myself."

As it turned out, the robot's maker was actually a Thompson fan who controlled Hotshot remotely from a parked van bearing Nevada license plates.

In an interview with the Aspen Daily News, Juan Thompson said the celebration fulfilled the wish his father originally expressed in a 1978 BBC documentary, but was "bigger than he ever imagined."

Thompson's longtime illustrator, Ralph Steadman, disagreed.

"He'd probably say it wasn't quite big enough," Steadman told the Daily News.