THE NEW JOURNALISM AND ITS EDITORS: HUNTER S. THOMPSON, TOM WOLFE, AND THEIR EARLY EXPERIENCES By ELI JUSTIN BORTZ A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN MASS COMMUNICATION UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2005 Copyright 2005 by Eli Justin Bortz This document is dedicated to Meredith Ridenour, who provided only patience, guidance, and love throughout this project, and Hunter S. Thompson, whose wordplay continues to resonate. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS As I worked on this thesis over the last two years, I attempted to keep a list in my mind of everyone I needed to thank. As the list grew, I realized I was bound to forget names. Indeed, so many people provided guidance, help, and support that imagining the list is fairly overwhelming. I must first thank the chair of my supervisory committee, Dr. Bernell Tripp, for providing remarkable patience and advice as this project developed and progressed. I realized early on that I would need someone with an editor’s eye to guide my writing. She provided that, and more. It was with her encouragement that I was able to complete this project. I am also indebted to my other committee member, Dr. William McKeen, who accepted the task of serving on my committee during what can only be described as a busy time in his life. I wish him and his growing family all the best. Dr. Leonard Tipton, my other committee member, gave me encouragement and advice in the earliest stages of this project and recognized my interest in the New Journalism. I am also grateful to the University Press of Florida, in general, and its acquisitions department, in specific, for providing me with the support that allowed me to continue working on this project without having to wonder how I was going to survive in Gainesville. Amy Gorelick, who gave me my first opportunity at the University Press of Florida, Meredith Morris-Babb, who gave me encouragement during stressful times and now serves as the distinguished director of the Press, and John Byram, who gave me the wonderful opportunity to continue with the Press, all have my profound gratitude. Lori iv Larson, Nicholas Eliopulos, and Christine Mechanik, former and present colleagues and friends, helped make the Press a great home for me. Nathan Vonderheide and Brian Slais, old and dear friends, helped remind me that Gainesville was not meant only for work and school. It was because of them that I could occasionally disconnect from this study and take a breath, if only for a few hours. I must also thank my parents, Julie and Bruce Smith, for encouraging me when the stress was overwhelming. They always kept me in their thoughts and prayers, and I love them for it. Finally, I thank Meredith, who did more for me over the last two years of our lives than I can ever describe. Her love, support, and understanding kept me going through the most difficult hours of this study and made the better hours that much brighter. It was only with her help that I was able to finish this thesis. v TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................1 Research Hypotheses/Questions...................................................................................5 Review of Literature.....................................................................................................7 Theoretical Framework...............................................................................................23 Methodology...............................................................................................................26 Implications of Research ............................................................................................29 2 HUNTER S. THOMPSON.........................................................................................31 Thompson’s Early Career...........................................................................................31 Rolling Stone...............................................................................................................45 Scanlan’s Monthly ......................................................................................................49 3 THOMPSON’S LETTERS.........................................................................................54 Examining the Correspondence..................................................................................56 Thompson and Hinckle...............................................................................................62 Thompson and Wenner...............................................................................................70 4 TOM WOLFE.............................................................................................................84 The New York Herald Tribune and New York Magazine ...........................................91 Esquire Magazine .......................................................................................................94 5 WOLFE’S NEW JOURNALISM...............................................................................98 The New Yorker Parodies: Wolfe’s Exposure to New York Celebrity.....................102 Editors, Deadlines, and the Necessity of Reaching Out to “Sunday” Readers.........107 Wolfe as a Free Agent ..............................................................................................109 6 CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................116 vi LIST OF REFERENCES.................................................................................................124 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ...........................................................................................129 vii Abstract of Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Mass Communication THE NEW JOURNALISM AND ITS EDITORS: HUNTER S. THOMPSON, TOM WOLFE, AND THEIR EARLY EXPERIENCES By Eli Justin Bortz August 2005 Chair: Bernell Tripp Major Department: Journalism and Communications This study addresses an infrequently investigated aspect of the New Journalism of the 1960s and 1970s: the relationships between New Journalists Hunter S. Thompson and Tom Wolfe and the editors of the respective publications for whom they wrote. Crucial to this study is the release of two volumes of Thompson’s correspondence, detailing the development of his career over several decades. The purpose of this study is to examine how the writer-editor relationships developed and to account for the concerns and considerations at play between these editors and writers. The scope of media scholarship on the New Journalism presents an incomplete definition, usually ignoring the relationships that necessarily developed between the editors of alternative publications that supported the New Journalism and the working reporters that constituted the source of this method of reporting. This thesis hypothesizes that, regardless of the status of his career, Thompson struggled with lack of recognition and respect from editors like Jann Wenner, editor of viii Rolling Stone, and Warren Hinckle, editor of Scanlan’s Monthly, due to the often intangible writer-editor relationship that the New Journalism encouraged. Wolfe’s experiences with editors like Clay Felker, founder of New York magazine, and Esquire’s Byron Dobell, however, proved dissimilar to Thompson’s. In fact, Wolfe often reflected that these relationships helped him develop what is recognized as the New Journalism. ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This study, or at least its original intent, can be traced to 1997, when Random House released the first volume of a proposed three-volume collection of journalist Hunter S. Thompson’s correspondence.1 That first volume covered the years 1955 through 1967, including short stories from Thompson’s youth and other letters to editors, colleagues, family, and friends. These volumes marked the first time Thompson’s complete correspondence was released, and the letters provided invaluable insight into his ambitions as a writer and journalist. The popular image of Thompson casts him in the role of freelance writer, with only the pressure of covering the story weighing on him. What was interesting to note, in even a cursory glance at the letters in The Proud Highway, was the somewhat desperate nature of Thompson’s life as a freelance journalist and reporter, as he tried to remain financially stable while building a reputation as a daring and entertaining writer. Like many people struggling to settle into a career or enterprise, that desperation would often lead to anger, animosity, and frustration at what was perceived as a lack of respect from various editors and publishers for whom Thompson would write. Indeed, it appeared that, at least in the early part of his career, Thompson perceived his editors as enemies who were uncompromising in their rigid demands or unwilling to appreciate his 1 The Proud Highway, the first volume, was released in 1997, followed by the second volume of Thompson’s letters, Fear and Loathing in America, released in 2000. Curiously, the first volume was