�He may have died relatively young but he made up for it in quality if not quantity of years,� Paul Krassner, the veteran radical journalist and one of Thompson�s former editors, told The Associated Press by phone from his Southern California home.

�It was hard to say sometimes whether he was being provocative for its own sake or if he was just being drunk and stoned and irresponsible,� quipped Krassner, founder of the leftist publication The Realist and co-founder of the Youth International (YIPPIE) party.

The world has lost a pioneer. So I drink a shot of whiskey — not my favorite, but appropos, I think — and hope to one day have the same impact his work had on me and so many others. With luck, Hunter has found his peace.