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Matt Kuraska

Doonesbury: Research Paper

Hunter S. Thompson changed the field of journalism throughout his career in writing which included working for ‘Rolling Stone’ and publishing several books. He was known for his rock and roll lifestyle as well as his tendency towards including personal information about himself in his assignments. This became labeled as which focused on the writer being heavily involved with the events he or she was covering. Although this made for exciting articles for readers, other audiences used this insider information to ridicule or

Thompson as a writer and person. One of the most prominent examples of this was done by the

‘Washington Post’ newspaper through a comic strip called .

Created by , this comic featured a character by the name of with striking similarities to Hunter S. Thompson. In fact, it comes as no surprise that the character be named Duke after Thompson used as an alias in his book titled “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” while he was recording his search for the American dream. Trudeau created Uncle Duke as an accurate representation of Thompson’s physical qualities as well. In the strips, he is shown as an older, balding man who spends the majority of his time smoking a cigarette in Thompson’s iconic holder (Trudeau).

Doonesbury, however, is much more than just a comic strip in a newspaper. It is a community of artists, writers, and readers which has evolved over the 40 years of existence.

Their online website includes resources for readers to openly critique their publishing under the

“Blowback” section. The community also keeps up to date with current events as opposed to fictional creations in an online area called “Daily Briefing.” The Doonesbury team also supports Kuraska 2

American military veterans by hosting a web page titled “The Sandbox” which includes an open discussion forum where they can discuss real stories of their service with others who have shared similar experiences (Washington Post). Overall, the Doonesbury comic strip provides readers with more than just a few cheap laughs; it appeals to a much wider audience from various backgrounds with deeper interests. In a way, the strip represents an American culture that wants to remain aware of current events in this nation while expressing their feelings about them through outlets such as comedy and creative expression within a community of like-minded individuals.

Before discussing how this comic strip impacted him, it is important to first understand

Thompson’s upbringing and lifestyle. Hunter S. Thompson’s life began when he was born in

Louisville, Kentucky in 1937. His family originally belonged to middle class society, but they faced struggles that threatened the stability of their lives. When Hunter was a boy, his father died, causing them to lose their primary source of income and forcing his mother to take care of him on her own. This caused Thompson a significant amount of emotional trauma growing up and possibly caused him to look for outlets throughout his life that were not always legal. When he attended high school, he had a group of friends that belonged to more of upper class America, as opposed to himself. The Thompson family were considered to have lived on the “wrong side of the train tracks” in their hometown. He may have felt somewhat out of place because of this, and coincidentally, many of his works as an adult involved searching for a place of belonging in his own preconceived idea of the American dream.

Hunter’s problematic lifestyle began its course while he was in high school just before graduation. Him and his group of friends had stolen a wallet and were caught by local police officers. Thompson faced a full punishment and spent time in jail for the crime, while his Kuraska 3 wealthier friends were sent home free without any consequences. Naturally, this left him bitter and contributed to his future public resentment of upper class America and the unfair distribution of power within the class system of society. Thompson went on to find involvement in numerous additional illegal actions throughout the course of his life.

He did, however, find a positive source of enjoyment through reading and writing literature which he spent much of his time doing. Through his success in writing during high school, he found himself as a member of the prestigious group Athenaeum Literary Society.

Unfortunately, he was excommunicated at an early age due to his trouble with the law. This may have translated into him finding solace in actively going against the formality of writing institutes and the traditional style of journalism later in his career. Lacking a definitive goal or career in mind after school, Thompson enlisted in the military. He found a sense of purpose there once he was offered and fulfilled the role of sports editor for their community newspaper, “The

Command Courier.” This is where he got his start in actual journalism and paved the way for the growth of his interest.

Later in Thompson’s writing career, he was known for not only covering stories, but going beyond the assignment and creating room for himself to be involved in the events. This style of “Gonzo” journalism went against the grain of traditional accepted style, and quickly became uniquely attributed as a characteristic of Hunter Thompson. “While traditional journalists and many fiction writers translate reality into clear, orderly form, Thompson infuses his prose with the characteristics of the Faulknerian ‘truer reality’ he senses: chaos, violence, disintegration, proliferation of inhuman proportions, absurdity” (Novoa). Furthermore, he was well-known for living on the “edge” as described through his various accounts of drug use, theft, Kuraska 4 and violence openly admitted through his partially autobiographical books. This created the term outlaw journalism which was used interchangeably along with gonzo to describe Thompson’s work.

Hunter S. Thompson later developed an inclination toward the field of politics, especially in the area of Aspen, Colorado where he hoped to make changes to society. He filled the role of campaign manager for a man named Joe Edwards who was running for mayor in 1969. The

Edwards campaign was largely known for drawing support out of the so-called “mis-fits” from the community. They garnered a massive amount of support from school dropouts, drug users, and criminals who were also hoping for change and possibly relief from social problems they had been facing. Therefore, the term “Freak Power” found a way into descriptions of

Thompson’s political activism. He represented those that had no voice in government, stemming from his own experience as a child when his family struggled financially and felt that opportunities and power were placed heavily in favor of those more fortunate in society.

Unfortunately, the “Freak Power” movement was not enough to grant Joe Edwards the mayoral seat and he lost by a narrow margin of votes. Thompson was only just beginning his political career, however, and soon after ran for sheriff of Pitkin County, Colorado. The “Freak Power” movement carried over into this election as well and the same demographic of people found great hope in his candidacy. Again, however, Thompson failed to win. It seemed to be more than just winning the sheriff position, though. He succeeded in making a statement about the power of the freaks and misfits and how the traditional political parties could potentially be beaten by them. Kuraska 5

Hunter Thompson earned most of his fame from the journalistic projects he conducted in the form of books and substantial articles. Specifically, his road to success was paved by the work he did on the notorious biker gang, the Hell’s Angels. To get the true story behind all the news stories describing them as gruesome, barbaric, blood-thirsty brawlers, Hunter Thompson actually took an assignment from “The Nation” to actually live among them for an extended period of time. He became a spectator to all their actions and behaviors then compiled his findings into a book titled “Hell’s Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga.” Every illegal act

Thompson committed in his lifetime likely would not have compared to the terrible acts described in this book, and he took a real risk by accepting this task. The success of “Hell’s

Angels” sparked Jann Wenner’s attention, who was the lead editor of “Rolling Stone” magazine at the time. He commissioned Thompson to write about his involvement in the Colorado election, which served as “the opening battle cry to an epic, righteous, and occasionally combustible partnership between Hunter and Rolling Stone” (Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone

9). Aside from his work under Wenner, he also wrote several successful books in addition to

“Hell’s Angels.” They all seemed to have a familiar theme of chasing the American dream, at least, Thompson’s version of it. In “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” which was originally supposed to be a simple assignment to write about a motor race in Nevada, he teams up with

Oscar Zeta Acosta and wreaks havoc while allegedly under the influence of numerous dangerous substances. “Dope-driven, the dynamic duo spends most of its time courting disaster: building up huge hotel bills, converting rented Cadillacs into wrecks, vomiting, and running hilarious numbers on the petite bourgeoisie of Las Vegas” (Plummer 36). “Fear and Loathing on the Kuraska 6

Campaign Trail,” on the other hand, takes this theme of the American dream into the context of politics. Specifically, Thompson followed the presidential candidates of 1972 as they advertised to potential voters who were anxious to give power to the man they thought would give them the best chance at their own individual dreams. Hunter Thompson got the opportunity to reveal information in his own “Gonzo” journalistic style. “All of them were bound by certain constraints—there were things they wanted to say but couldn’t under the rules of the game.

Except Thompson. Thompson could say whatever he wanted and it would be printed, no questions asked” (Nocera 44). His style was so unique, and by this time in his career, his success had made believers out of doubters. One of the only works of fiction Thompson ever created was a novel titled “” which has since been turned into a motion picture film. The story follows the protagonist as he chases his American dream to Puerto Rico. Hunter Thompson was intensely motivated to include this theme into his writing, possibly due to the fact that he desperately wanted to find his own American dream, where he could act the way he wanted and even write the way he wanted without criticism. Tragically, he committed suicide with a .44 magnum pistol in 2005. The Washington Post went public with the note he left in an article by

Henry Allen: “No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More

Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy. No Fun – for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old age. Relax – This won’t hurt.” He may not have ever found his dream, but many of his readers may have been inspired to find theirs through his writing. Some say he changed journalism for the better, others claim he crippled it, but either way he still was a monument of writing history. Kuraska 7

The antagonist in this matter, Garry Trudeau, lived a fairly different life compared to that of Thompson. He was born eleven years later than him in 1948 within New York City. This gave him the perspective of someone from a more urban environment in New England. Instead of enlisting and writing in the military, Trudeau actually pursued an arts major at Yale University.

In 1970, the first Doonesbury comic strip was published in “The Washington Post.” Initially, this did not include Hunter Thompson among the list of characters. Separately from the newspaper’s sales, Doonesbury has since been bought seven million times in the form of compilations. For this work, Garry Trudeau had been nominated for multiple Pulitzer Prize awards and succeeded in winning in 1975. This was the very first time in history that the creator of a comic strip had won this prestigious award. It was not simply a cartoon for casual entertainment of mass audiences; Doonesbury held much more importance in politics and making statements about society. NBC eventually offered him a spot on television to produce an animated cartoon version of his comic, which received a nomination for an Academy Award in 1977. Trudeau did not stop there. In 1983, he worked with a theatrical team to create a musical which was performed on

Broadway. For this, he even received a Grammy award nomination for the musical aspect of the production. (Washington Post)

Trudeau found success later in completely separate avenues from the comic strip.

Theaters received another contribution from him called “” which satired

Ronald Reagan’s presidential administration and was later turned into a feature film.

Additionally, he produced a television series titled “Tanner ‘88” with a similar theme critiquing the president of the United States. The TV show eventually earned an Emmy award for its Kuraska 8 success and popularity. Trudeau still remains alive and well in New York City supervising the further production of his comic strip and legacy. (Washington Post)

According to the Doonesbury web page, Uncle Duke, also known as Hunter S.

Thompson, lived a fairly rock and roll lifestyle during his time in the comic strips. Over the course of his existence in Doonesbury, he has committed various crimes, traveled across the world, and assumed the positions of multiple political roles. His character description page on the

‘Washington Post’ website designated for the comics, display some of these interesting achievements. He is described as a “rabid controlled-substances buff,” implying that he is not simply a recreational drug-user, but he more accurately resembles an unpredictable addict with a tendency towards violence from the wording of “rabid.” Uncle Duke is also portrayed as an avid journalist and writer employed by Jann Wenner at the ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine. Duke’s political career during his fictional lifetime included serving as the governor of American Samoa before leaving and being sent to China as a United States ambassador. When those careers did not prove to be particularly lucrative for Duke, he approached a shady dealer about purchasing an apricot farm to derive Laetrile from the pits of the fruit which is known to be an example of alternative medicine for treating cancer. However, this particular form of treatment is popular in Mexico but banned in the United States for its questionable effectiveness and possible toxicity to patients

(American Cancer Society). Uncle Duke also expresses an interest in athletics and sports management, which leads him to actually become the general manager of the Washington

Redskins football team. This proves to be a legal issue for him once he starts drugging his players, though. At one point in the comic strips, The National Rifle Association even approaches Duke to represent their organization in government as a lobbyist and speaker Kuraska 9 supporting minimalistic gun control laws. He gladly agrees to this proposal to work for them, stemming from his inner appreciation for firearms.

Later on, he spends a significant amount of time in the Middle-East region exploiting the land for its natural resources, particularly oil. Duke garners a massive financial collection from this plot, but ends up getting abducted in by terrorists. This comic strip goes hand-in-hand with current events in reality with the Iran Hostage Crisis of the time period. He was considered the 53rd hostage being held by the terrorists. In reality, there really was a controversy due to there being 52 known hostages, but an additional person became a hostage, found out to be Cynthia

Dwyer, a writer for ‘The Humanist” magazine who was simply delivering letters to the hostages from their respective families (Wagman). It became ironic in the comics how Uncle Duke, also a writer, became the mystery hostage in Iran, but this may have upset readers who were still shocked by the news still being so recent and controversial. Duke is also presumed dead until the comic strip announces he avoided execution through reluctant bribery with the terrorists.

Over the course of the comics including Uncle Duke, he is arrested multiple times for smuggling large amounts of drugs, namely cocaine and hallucinogens. Coincidentally, he becomes wildly interested in creating a film about John Delorean who was the well-known designer of sports cars but later also arrested for drug trafficking. This charge was dismissed in court due to him claiming entrapment by the federal officers, which seems to be yet another coincidence as Duke tries to finance his film creation through selling narcotics but ends up purchasing from undercover officers. Kuraska 10

Uncle Duke actually became animated in 2000 in a project created by Trudeau. The purpose was to display his character as a satirical candidate for the current presidential election in a campaign nicknamed “Duke2000-Whatever it takes” sponsored by Absolut Vodka. In fact,

CNN included this animated character on Larry King’s television show as he interviewed Uncle

Duke and asked questions pertaining to his “candidacy.” Unsurprisingly, Duke shared his proposal to have mandatory ownership of firearms by all United States citizens and openly advocated his own drug use. He even jabbed at George W. Bush, whom Hunter Thompson was also known for strongly disliking.

In 2005, not coincidentally the same year of Hunter Thompson’s suicide by firearm,

Garry Trudeau produced a specific series of comic strips in tribute of his death. He even collaborated on one that involved artwork intended to imitate the style of , who had illustrated for Thompson’s work in pieces such as “The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and

Depraved” and “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” However, one edition in particular may seem Kuraska 11 controversial. Soon after his suicide in real life, Uncle Duke had his head blown up within the comic. Surprisingly, this did not receive much public outrage, which is attributed to the fact that

Hunter S. Thompson was such an outrageous man, himself. After this series of creations,

Trudeau claimed to have stopped referencing Thompson’s real life because it “would have been very limiting” and Hunter “seemed so aggrieved by the character” (Thompson).

When Hunter S. Thompson was still alive, he was not as much a fan of the Doonesbury comic strip as other audiences. The Uncle Duke character could be extremely offensive at times and maybe resembled him too closely. Reportedly, Thompson became so enraged by some of the comic strips that he demanded to speak to Garry Trudeau, claiming he had been spying on him.

This extreme paranoia manifested itself in Hunter’s mind while Trudeau was simply extracting details from his various writings in books and articles which were widely distributed and quite famous among the public (Hoffman). In the strip, he is displayed consuming an innumerable amount of hallucinogenic drugs and claims to see giant lizards when talking to people, a reference to his accounts in “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” (Trudeau 8). Uncle Duke also moves to a house in Aspen, Colorado at one point which is inspired by his actual time spent living and politically campaigning there (Trudeau 10). His friend, , was often referenced as being from Samoa by Thompson, and Uncle Duke actually ends up serving as governor of Samoa in the comic (Trudeau 35). Before giving a speech to his nephew’s school about outlaw journalism, Uncle Duke requests a crate of grapefruit be delivered to his office as a reference to his strange requests at a hotel in “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” as well (Trudeau

67). When the character starts his own college of studying alternative medicine, Duke greets one Kuraska 12 of his graduates and compliments him for all that he has “gotten away with” which mirrors all that Hunter Thompson got away with in his real life (Trudeau 156).

The previously mentioned references were all somewhat biographical and accurate to

Thompson’s career as a writer. However, there are numerous more strips that can be easily interpreted as being offensive towards Hunter Thompson. Uncle Duke gets fired from “The

Rolling Stone” by Jann Wenner who actually posts that Thompson has died in an obituary section of the magazine with the explanation being “hack writer dead at 45” (Trudeau 29). While the character is in office as the governor of Samoa, he is easily convinced into accepting a bribe to change his political views (Trudeau 35). At one point, Uncle Duke buys an apricot farm from a character named Mr. Placebo and he plans to gather the fruit pits as a way of creating an alternative form of medicine called Laetrile which is intended to treat cancer (Trudeau 58). This type of treatment has been popular in Mexico, but has actually been banned in the United States as the FDA found that there is no evidence to suggest it actually works (American Cancer

Society). Uncle Duke takes advantage of an illness that affects so many people in the world in order to simply make a financial profit off of them. When going into the oil trade business, Uncle

Duke also appears racist as he refuses to work with Albanians (Trudeau 93). He also repeatedly lies about his mother having cancer as an excuse to extract more money from people (Trudeau

95). Also, after he is assumed and declared dead when taken hostage by Iranians, his friends and family do not wish to even have any type of memorial service for him (Trudeau 100).

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This specific comic strip from page eight of the compilation displays an instance of Uncle

Duke under the influence of a hallucinogenic drug. His nephew, one of the main and most Kuraska 14 commonly reoccurring characters in Doonesbury goes to check on him after one of his drug binges and Duke exclaims that he is seeing giant lizards instead of humans. This joke appears multiple times throughout the long-standing career of the comics and refers to “Fear and

Loathing in Las Vegas” when Thompson arrives at the hotel to report on the motor race in

Nevada and sees lizard-creatures and gila monsters scattered throughout the lobby because of the massive amount of drugs him and Oscar Zeta Acosta consumed on the drive there.

In this depiction, one of Uncle Duke’s friends has been invited to a television cooking show to imitate what Hunter Thompson used to make for himself, implying drugs were just like normal food for him. In the illustration, he is adding ether which appeared in many scenes of

“Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.”

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This strip is one of the most offensive from the series and occurs just after Uncle Duke gets set up and arrested by purchasing cocaine from undercover FBI officers. He gets into a fight in jail and his life flashes before his eyes, going back to his childhood. It shows his mother abandoning and neglecting him as a baby, in the paper for being arrested at seven years old and exposing himself in church. He also says “Boy! This is the college for me!” when he hears that a school is segregated.

He is also depicted as abusing alcohol, gambling, and armed robbery. The comic also jabs at his mother sleeping around and not knowing who his real father is. Overall, this comic strip seems to be the worst from the compilation especially since the character is clearly representing Hunter S.

Thompson and is just one of the reasons he was displeased with it. Hunter Thompson led a chaotic life with a troubled childhood and an adult life of uncontrollable alcohol and drug abuse.

He looked to writing as a healthy outlet of expression in which he created a new style of gonzo and outlaw journalism putting himself into his stories. Garry Trudeau, on the other hand, pursued creativity in the form of graphic artistry and graduated from a prestigious university and still lives in New York where he was born. He led a very successful life with well-known works of comic strips, television shows, and theatrical performances. These two men’s lives met when Trudeau involved a character, Uncle Duke, into his comic strips who was directly representative of Hunter

Thompson. There were many events in the illustrations inspired by Thompson’s real life, but there were also some severe exaggerations that were undoubtedly very offensive towards him. This fueled Hunter

Thompson’s discontent towards Trudeau and Doonesbury as a whole.

Works Cited

Allen, Henry. "Last Words: A Testament to Hunter Thompson." The Washington Post 9 Sept. 2005. Kuraska 17

Web. 4 Dec. 2014. .

“Doonesbury Comic Strips by Garry Trudeau." Doonesbury.washingtonpost.com. Washington Post.

Web. 4 Dec. 2014. .

Doonesbury's Duke on Larry King. CNN, 2000. Film.

Hoffman, Nicholas. "What Happened When Hunter Thompson Told Me Garry Trudeau Was Spying

on Him."Slate Magazine. 25 Oct. 2010. Web. 4 Dec. 2014.

.

“Laetrile." Laetrile. American Cancer Society, 11 Dec. 2012. Web. 4 Dec. 2014.

dicine/pharmacologicalandbiologicaltreatment/laetrile>.

Nocera, Joseph. "How Hunter Thompson Killed New Journalism." The Washington Monthly 13.2

(1981): 44. Print.

Novoa, Bruce. "Fear and Loathing on the Buffalo Trail." MELUS (1979): 39. Print.

Plummer, William. "Review of ''" The New Republic 181.8 (1979): 36. Print.

Thompson, Bob. "Hunter Thompson Death Blows Uncle Duke's Mind In Cartoon

Tribute." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 9 Mar. 2005. Web. 4 Dec. 2014.

.

Thompson, Hunter S. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the

American Dream. 2nd Vintage Books ed. New York: Vintage, 1998. Print.

Thompson, Hunter S. Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72. San Francisco: Straight Arrow,

1973. Print.

Thompson, Hunter S. Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga. Modern Library ed. New York:

Modern Library, 1999. Print.

Thompson, Hunter S. The Rum Diary. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998. Print.

Thompson, Hunter S., and Jann Wenner. Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone: The Essential Writing

of Hunter S. Thompson. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011. Print. Kuraska 18

Wagman, Bob. "The 53rd Hostage." The Sumter Daily Item 10 Dec. 1980. Print.