The Edge… There is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over. The others — the living — are those who pushed their luck as far as they felt they could handle it, and then pulled back, or slowed down, or did whatever they had to when it came time to choose between Now and Later
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The quote above is taken from Hunter S. Thompson’s 1966 book , Hell’s Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs. I read that book and most of his other work , including that from his longtime union with Rolling Stone magazine,many years ago with great glee but never really got caught up in the whole gonzo mania that sprung up in later years as he became an almost mythic figure. No, I just loved the 
way his journalism, if indeed it was that or purely fictional, took on sometime serious subjects with a skewed and jaded eye. And it was just laugh out loud funny at times with imagery that is as vivid in my mind as when I first read it oh so many years ago. Plus, it usually was accompanied by the ink-splattered artwork of Ralph Steadman, including this drawing shown here taken from a memorable incident in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I think Steadman’s manic drawings of Thompson’s adventures were a major force in the building of the Thompson legacy and legend.
And for some, Thompson is a legend, an icon, a caricature that still lives on. There have been numerous books and films on his life including a graphic novel last year, Gonzo: A Graphic Biography of Hunter S. Thompson , illustrated by Anthony Hope-Smith. I don’t know if I’m still buying in but some of the imagery is wonderful and the early stories are still great reads.
Here’s a video from artist Piotr Kabat that is his graphic interpretation of the quote at the top of this post. Well done.
Redtree Times 