Proud Highway:Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman by Hunter S. Thompson Page B
Book: Proud Highway:Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman by Hunter S. Thompson
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Authors: Hunter S. Thompson
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date of December 12, 1956. This is inexcusable, but will not happen again.
After reading your letter again, I find that I have indeed written since then. My confusion must be apparent.
As it is now, I am three days behind on both sports pages and am scheduled for a terrifying inquisition of some sort tomorrow, concerning innumerablecharges of insubordination which have been placed against me within the last two weeks. At last count, nine NCOs had registered complaints, the Air Police had found me drunk in the office at 3:30 last Sunday night, I had been turned in for reckless driving on my new motor scooter, and the Colonel had discovered that I was working for the
News
without his permission. Needless to say, the situation is unsettled.
To add to everything else, I dropped a gallon-jug full of beer in the office Friday night, and the odor has permeated the very walls, being particularly offensive in the Colonelâs office, which has no ventilation. I am seriously considering applying for an unadaptable discharge (inability to adapt to the military way of life).
For the sake of everything you presently take for granted, give up all ideas of volunteering for the draft: or for anything military. It is a way of life which was never meant for our type. Being almost wholly composed of dullards and intellectual sluggards, it is a painful hell for anyone with an I.Q. over 80. Be a beachcomber, a Parisian wino, an Italian pimp, or a Danish pervert; but stay away from the Armed Forces. It is a catch-all for people who regard every tomorrow as a hammer swinging at the head of man, and whose outstanding trait is a fearful mistrust of everything out of the ordinary. Should you volunteer, it will be two years lost in a sea of ignorance.
And that for the military.
You seem to be even more mercenary than I had previously imagined, but I wish you the best of luck next year in the company of Vaughn. 3 I now see the secret of capitalistic success, but unfortunately, the AF leaves little chance for this sort of thing. WE believe in democratic processes. [â¦]
Until I hear from you,
I remain,
your friend â¦
Hunter
TO THE ATHENAEUM LITERARY ASSOCIATION :
On March 11 Thompson received a letter from the Athenaeum Literary Association reinstating him as a Class of 1955 member. (The society had excommunicated him from its ranks for âinsufficient moralsâ when he was arrested for robbery.) This hometown boost of confidence did wonders for Thompsonâs sagging morale.
March 17, 1957
Eglin AFB
Fort Walton Beach, Florida
Gentlemen,
It would be a waste of time for me to carry on at length about how much I appreciate the action you have taken in re-instating me in the Class of 1955. If you will put yourselves in my place for a moment, Iâm sure that you will see how I feel.
The Athenaeum meant a great deal to me, and to be separated from it under the conditions which brought about my resignation was a painful thing. But the very fact that I left the Association under a cloud has made the reinstatement something which I will always look on with pride. Needless to say, I am deeply grateful to each and every one of you for making it possible and I hope I will be able to thank you in person the next time I get home.
They say that you never really appreciate anything until youâve lost it, and any old grad can tell you that this is true where the Athenaeum is concerned. To many of us, the ALA was, and still is, a way of life more than anything else. We look back on the friends, the meetings, the arguments, the dances and the bull sessions with a feeling of genuine regret that they are things which we will never do again. Appreciate it while you can because those years are short and I can guarantee that there wonât be a one of you who wonât wish he could live them over again.
Of all the things for which I am grateful to the Athenaeum, I think the most important thing I learned was the importance of
After reading your letter again, I find that I have indeed written since then. My confusion must be apparent.
As it is now, I am three days behind on both sports pages and am scheduled for a terrifying inquisition of some sort tomorrow, concerning innumerablecharges of insubordination which have been placed against me within the last two weeks. At last count, nine NCOs had registered complaints, the Air Police had found me drunk in the office at 3:30 last Sunday night, I had been turned in for reckless driving on my new motor scooter, and the Colonel had discovered that I was working for the
News
without his permission. Needless to say, the situation is unsettled.
To add to everything else, I dropped a gallon-jug full of beer in the office Friday night, and the odor has permeated the very walls, being particularly offensive in the Colonelâs office, which has no ventilation. I am seriously considering applying for an unadaptable discharge (inability to adapt to the military way of life).
For the sake of everything you presently take for granted, give up all ideas of volunteering for the draft: or for anything military. It is a way of life which was never meant for our type. Being almost wholly composed of dullards and intellectual sluggards, it is a painful hell for anyone with an I.Q. over 80. Be a beachcomber, a Parisian wino, an Italian pimp, or a Danish pervert; but stay away from the Armed Forces. It is a catch-all for people who regard every tomorrow as a hammer swinging at the head of man, and whose outstanding trait is a fearful mistrust of everything out of the ordinary. Should you volunteer, it will be two years lost in a sea of ignorance.
And that for the military.
You seem to be even more mercenary than I had previously imagined, but I wish you the best of luck next year in the company of Vaughn. 3 I now see the secret of capitalistic success, but unfortunately, the AF leaves little chance for this sort of thing. WE believe in democratic processes. [â¦]
Until I hear from you,
I remain,
your friend â¦
Hunter
TO THE ATHENAEUM LITERARY ASSOCIATION :
On March 11 Thompson received a letter from the Athenaeum Literary Association reinstating him as a Class of 1955 member. (The society had excommunicated him from its ranks for âinsufficient moralsâ when he was arrested for robbery.) This hometown boost of confidence did wonders for Thompsonâs sagging morale.
March 17, 1957
Eglin AFB
Fort Walton Beach, Florida
Gentlemen,
It would be a waste of time for me to carry on at length about how much I appreciate the action you have taken in re-instating me in the Class of 1955. If you will put yourselves in my place for a moment, Iâm sure that you will see how I feel.
The Athenaeum meant a great deal to me, and to be separated from it under the conditions which brought about my resignation was a painful thing. But the very fact that I left the Association under a cloud has made the reinstatement something which I will always look on with pride. Needless to say, I am deeply grateful to each and every one of you for making it possible and I hope I will be able to thank you in person the next time I get home.
They say that you never really appreciate anything until youâve lost it, and any old grad can tell you that this is true where the Athenaeum is concerned. To many of us, the ALA was, and still is, a way of life more than anything else. We look back on the friends, the meetings, the arguments, the dances and the bull sessions with a feeling of genuine regret that they are things which we will never do again. Appreciate it while you can because those years are short and I can guarantee that there wonât be a one of you who wonât wish he could live them over again.
Of all the things for which I am grateful to the Athenaeum, I think the most important thing I learned was the importance of
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