Are Hunter S. Thompson Converse sneakers on the way?
John Clarke Jr. blogs at Radar that the estate of Hunter S. Thompson is in talks with shoe company Converse about a gonzo-branded edition of Chuck Taylor low-tops. Clarke writes that the discussion has been ongoing since 2005, shortly after the writer fatally shot himself. Snip:
"Since he bought his first pair in the early 1960s in San Francisco he has worn them every day of his life," the author's widow Anita Thompson tells Radar. "There are still over 70 pairs of them at the house."Link.That hasn't stopped some from crying "sellout." And it's tough to tell whether Hunter himself would have approved of the endorsement. He was never against making a fast buck. He always loved schemes, but was always generous and never greedy. In the 1970s, he had no problem posing for Levi photo ads. In 1999, when I convinced Porsche to loan him a new car to test drive for a review in the San Francisco Examiner Magazine, he got slapped for shilling. And he could've given a fuck. He thanked me. We talked on the phone for years afterward.
Image: Converse ad with Dr. Thompson at far left.
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Oh god. Whether or not Hunter would approve, I think the thought of Hunter thompson sneakers just made me throw up a little.
Weird. Or another way of making a fast buck of hero worship. Or... I have to agree with Kate... it makes me a feel a little icky, too.
Mindy
Sellout? bah!
gimmie a pair or 12. I think it's a great idea. Keep us posted if/when they go on sale? I just hope Chuck Corp doesn't mark them up too much.
I dunno...if I were famous, and a company wanted to pay me to say that I use their crap....when I actually DO use their crap (and enjoy it) in the first place, is it a sellout?
What if this actually promotes sales of his books, and encourages people to find out more about him? Is it a bad thing then?
This could be a new and unique way of promoting literacy. Imagine branding the "cool" products with literary personalities. It certainly beats sports stars, or *gasp* rock stars.
Note: These are random questions that popped into my head after reading the post, and do not necessarily represent how I really feel about this.
Note pt. 2: I love Chucks, and I love HST. If these do come out. I would have to admit, that I probably would buy a pair.
I think that the whole deadness factor is a big part of the creepiness. How would you feel about becoming the spokesperson for jock itch cream or tampons after you're dead and have no say over it.
i agree with #3 -- crying "sellout" is ridiculous in this day and age, when all the bands from the 60s through the 90s are cashing in any way they can, and newer bands recognize that it's just good business and marketing sense. bring on the gonzo chucks, i say.
@ #4 POSTED BY NEPHILIM:
The main reason people bought Chucks back in the day was because they were cheap and relatively easy to maintain.
What if this actually promotes sales of his books, and encourages people to find out more about him? Is it a bad thing then?
More people own Che t-shirts than have actually ever read Che's bio.
I don’t know if “sellout” is a correct term, but it’s ghoulish for the dead to be re-appropriated to push sneakers.
What’s next? Lester Bangs special edition cough syrup? “100% pure and free of psychotic reactions and carburetor dung. Some restrictions may apply.”
just get a pair of white lowtops. that's what he was wearing.
do you want to be fashionable, or do you want to be an amphetamine crazed warrior burning down the mutant highway, prepared for the worst and keeping your ankles cool?
@ #8
Yes, I know this. I was around back then, and buying Chucks. This hardly has any relevance to the article, or my posting.
So challenge people on it. It's fun, I do.
Either way, you obviously didn't read the note at the end of my post.
@8: Che Guevara on a Tshirt is more ridiculous than HST design sneakers. HST was not a political idealist whose own belief system would have caused him to vomit at the thought of his visage selling Tshirts to people ignorant to his cause. HST liked to take drugs and write creative non-fiction, and often he had something to say about a country he loved, but often felt pissed-off at.
He was a writer, doing something he loved, but he wasn't a saint--it's not inappropriate in the way Che shirts are. The Gonzo symbol is damn snazzy--it would look pretty damn sweet on a pair of Chucks, and since I wear them often anyway, and so did he, it's sort of odd to care. I mean, if you're pulling the "he's dead" factor, so is Jesus, but I see his image on damn near everything. Death doesn't matter except to the living.
I realize it was hyperbole, but HST didn't wear Chucks every day...
He appeared on Late Night with Conan several years ago to promote his book Kingdom of Fear, and they discuss the shoes he was wearing - which weren't Chucks (most likely a pair of NIKE IDs because he said he "made them" - for which Conan makes fun of him).
Clip available on youtube (jump to 6:15 timestamp):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6K1PdkAP0k
it's cool, but only if they are designed by Ralph Steadman .
@ #10 POSTED BY NEPHILIM , FEBRUARY 27, 2008 8:32 PM:
Yes, I know this. I was around back then, and buying Chucks. This hardly has any relevance to the article, or my posting.
It’s highly relevant since if you truly enjoy Hunter S. Thompson, maybe actually mimicking the spirit of what he did makes more sense than paying an inflated price for a sneaker that is stamped with a logo.
I don't think HST would mind too much. My only true concern i teenagers today would be turned onto him through the shoes; many of whom will never bother to read his delightful thoughts about the underbelly of America. Then again, he probably wouldn't care too much about that either.
From what I've seen of 'em he'd probably have shot at the little fuckers.
@14: agreed on the Steadman.
@#15
It’s highly relevant since if you truly enjoy Hunter S. Thompson, maybe actually mimicking the spirit of what he did makes more sense than paying an inflated price for a sneaker that is stamped with a logo.
Ah, but how do you know that I don't?
As for the price; the last pair of Chucks that I bought (about 1.5 years ago) cost me less than $50US brand new. Now, I know that $50 is more than it cost in the early eighties, but you do have to account for inflation.
You know, Flying Dog Brewery out of Denver makes Gonzo Beer in his honor/memory. I think we can all agree that that is a very good thing.
http://www.flyingdogales.com/cut-gonzo.asp
http://www.flyingdogales.com/beer-specialty-gonzo.asp
Gonzo Goes Well With
# Chocolate Desserts
# Hearty Beef Dishes
# Cigars
:)
Hey, Converse! I've been wearing high-top Chucks, exclusively, for the last fifteen years... Why tie your product to the fading memory of a deceased writer, when you could sponsor me, Guesstimate Jones, a living, breathing American iconoclast/trickster?
God knows, I could use the revenue, and a corporate sponsorship gig could be just the ticket I need to sustain my hyper-"cool" lifestyle, while simultaneously raising Chuck's brand awareness.
Just imagine: Extreme skeet shooting at this year's SXSW conference! Or maybe Converse can get me a press pass for next year's Davos forum! The possibilities for hillarious gonzo-style branding opportunities are endless...
They were my sneaker of choice for most of my adult life, still are I guess, but I won't buy them anymore-- ever since they stopped making them in the USA I've noted a definite dip in quality; they're not as "spongey" as they used to be when brand new.
Still, it seems like they've never gone out of style. . . walking around in my Chuck Taylors, drinking Moxie and eating a Moon Pie, ahh the good old days.
#4 I once had a Che shirt that said "I don't even know who this is." I thought it was ironic, since it's almost a given that anyone wearing a fashionable Che shirt hasn't read his bio, although these days they might have seen The Motorcycle Diaries. It looks like I missed out on the Che Doctorow shirt, but that meme still has some life left in it.
If you're thinking of buying Chucks, but don't want to support the big corporations, check out Blackspot shoes. The Blackspot anticorporation's name and logos are open source. Some people have suggested that Adbusters is selling out by promoting their own brand, but the shoes are vegan friendly, fair trade, union made, last a long time, and definitely have an attention getting style. Though I expect HST would have just bought cheap plain Chucks and not even cared if they were ethical or vegan or had the double-thumbed fist logo on them, and spent the difference on drugs.
I just hope Chuck Corp doesn't mark them up too much.
Well, "Chuck Corp" = Nike, so take a guess as to what they're gonna do.
I also wore chucks for the last 20 or so years, but I'm on my last pair of black hi-tops that I bought prior to the Nike buyout. I like chucks and all, but not enough to buy nike products. Too bad because I haven't found a suitable replacement. I would go for the blackspots, but I don't like low-tops, and the hi-tops are to eccentric looking for my taste. There were some chuck ripoffs available thru Mother Jones at one time, but they only had red hi-tops, and I don't do red either.
Most people recognise the shoes as his trademark style.If that needs to be stressed with HST or Gonzo logo for you to "get it" you should be punched in the ear.I have 4 prs of Chucks but not low-white.I'd look at my feet and be sad.
The nike thing ain't too cool either.
Might be a good idea for the family of James Dean to market white t-shirts though.
Boneheads.
Don't live his life. Just wear a logo of him on your FARKING SHOE OR TWO?
Hunter was not a normal guy. The connection between his Amiglia and hi hippocampus was congenitally slight, if not absent.
Walk a mile in his moccasins? BASTARDIZATION ALERT.
Walk a day in his life, barefoot.
I declare barefoot day.
GONZO CONVERSE
THE MYTHIC IMAGINATION OF MAN NEEDS MORE GONZO SIGHTINGS as symbols of FREEDOM and INDIVIDUALITY amidst the mass consumerism and conformity of so many other icons currently plaguing our landscape.
According to Radar Magazine online, blogging battles have ensued over whether or not Converse should come out with a pair of Gonzo Converse. According to Hunter’s wife Anita, Hunter owned 70 pairs of Converse and wore them every day of his life since first buying them in the early 60’s. I'm quite certain that Hunter was against selling out and against celebrity endorsements, but the Mythology and Symbol of GONZO and Dr. Hunter S. Thompson transcended Hunter the man and the mortal into immortal symbols of Freedom and Individuality. Hunter was a modern day Visionary Revolutionary who constantly questioned and spoke out against the wrongs of the government.
In order to best serve the memory of Hunter, we need to hold the Gonzo Fist high, for it is another version of Lady Liberty's Torch of Freedom offering Hope and Light in these dark and savage times. It is thanks to his dear friend Captain Jack Sparrow, that the Gonzo Fist that fired Hunter’s ashes into the great beyond, stood taller than the Statue of Liberty, so that even she held her Torch up to the great Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.
God forbid Gonzo Converse be made in China or anywhere else but the USA! Thar be the happy medium…. Help bring Manufacturing back to America with Gonzo Converse made out of HEMP, and let them be the official shoes of this REVOLUTION! Let the children see the Free, the Wild and the Brave- skateboarding, climbing trees, helping little old ladies with their groceries, and rocking out in Gonzo Converse! And let each pair of Gonzo Converse leave behind a trail of Gonzo fists for all to follow like a trail of magic breadcrumbs as we find our way back to the American Dream.
If you’re a fan of Hunter, then you need to read Anita Thompson’s brave and brilliant ode to her husband, “The Gonzo Way- A Celebration of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.” In it are 7 lessons on why Hunter mattered and what we have to learn from him. It makes for a perfect Breakfast with Hunter. It’s Gonzo fuel for a full throttle day of Too Much Fun.
I am a lucky pirate working at Barnes & Noble, where I’m able to hang out with Hunter every time I pick up one of his books. Outside the bookstore, Gonzo sightings are harder to find in NC. I find HUNTER St. in Apex. While driving to the beach I notice THOMPSON on one gravestone and HUNTER on another. I find an old pack of GONZO saltines at a friend’s, and a GONZO crosswords puzzle in the crossword section. And thanks to Captain Jack Sparrow, Ralph Steadman, & Flying Dog Brewery, there’s now GONZO ALE! Hopefully, I’ll someday drink a cold GONZO Grog while smoking a bowl of MaryJane’s finest in my well loved pair of Hemp Gonzo Converse that were made in the USA.
In reading Hunter, he’s invaded my imagination ‘til he’s one of my favorite Ghosts. I put myself on the wagon for 30 days this month, and I’d just accidentally broken my mother’s heart, yet again, arrgghh, and a cold beer would have been really fucking nice. I was stopped at a red light at Buffalo Rd. And on the billboard over to the left was a picture of Caribbean waters with a Corona laying down on the left and a huge lime off to the right. “Separation anxiety?” It asked. “Fuck Yah, you rat bastard!” I said laughin’ out loud, and snapping out of the doldrums as I did so. And because Hunter hangs out where the Buffalo Roam, I knew the laugh was from Hunter. And it made it all twice as sweet.
And on those wretched days when God forbid you lose yourself or your sense of humor, and God’s nowhere to be found, your Gonzo Converse will carry you. Hopefully you’ll look down at your Converse, and you’ll think of Hunter and one of his mad adventures, and you’ll be back up and runnin’ in no time. Never underestimate the power of magic shoes and ruby red slippers.
Buy the ticket. Take the ride. Gonzo sightings are Fuel for the Mythic Imagination! I don’t want Hunter just visible in the books and the landscape of the mind, I want him visible across the landscape of reality where his great Gonzo Fist of Freedom slams itself down upon the Kitchen Table of America, and then throws down another shot of Whiskey with a liquor soaked grapefruit and shrimp cocktail by its side. And his Gonzo Fist helps shatter the lies that are currently controlling the pirate ship of the brain through government and media controlled Fear and Loathing.
The visibility of Gonzo’s Fist is as important today as the resounding of Blackbeard’s bell with the resurrection of Blackbeard’s pirate ship-The Queen Anne’s Revenge. There are no coincidences- only a trillion clues to unlocking the great mysteries of the Universe. It’s no coincidence that Captain Jack Sparrow and Gonzo were the best of friends. In a recent Rolling Stone’s article (Issue 1044, Johnny Sings) Johnny Depp mused on his life in music prior to Sweeney Todd. Captain Jack Sparrow revealed that he had listened to the record album of Blackbeard’s Ghost so many times as a kid that he knew it word for word. Depp didn’t even see the movie ‘til he was in his 30’s, and he was well aware of the irony. Yep- Blackbeard handpicked Ol’ Captain Jack long ago.
Aye- as sure as Johnny Depp summoned the Ghost of Blackbeard through the power of Music and Repetition, (or was Blackbeard’s Ghost summoning Captain Jack Sparrow?) this small coincidence holds credence to the power of the Art of Repetition. We can thus infer that the repetition of Gonzo Converse leaving Gonzo footprints across the landscape of America might be enough as an act of ART to help restore FREEDOM to her rightful throne- THEREBY casting Fear and Loathing aside and resurrecting the American Dream.
ART is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer (GONZO FIST) with which to shape it. –Bertolt Brecht
The function of ART is to do more than tell it like it is- it’s to imagine what is possible. – Bell Hooks
To all those who think that pirates or Captain Jack are no longer cool because they’ve become too trendy- and normally I understand this train of thought, because I usually stray far from trends my damned self. But…
AS FAR AS PIRATES GO- THE MORE THE MERRIER!
THE MORE FREE THINKERS THE BETTER!
GOD BLESS JOHNNY DEPP AND CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW AND
THE PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
FOR BRINGING PIRATES TO THE HELM OF THE MYTHIC IMAGINATION
THE JOLLY ROGER IS THE ONE FLAG THAT FLIES AROUND THE WORLD IN THE NAME OF FREEDOM
THE US FLAG NO LONGER REPRESENTS FREEDOM AND HOPE TO THE MASSES-
NOT WHEN GEORGE BUSH IS FLYING IT.
PIRATES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN SYMBOLS OF FREEDOM
AND TO PIRATES, WE ADD THE GONZO FIST AS ANOTHER GREAT SYMBOL OF FREEDOM.
So should there be Gonzo Converse?- You’re Goddamn Right there should be.
THE MORE PIRATES THE BETTER
THE MORE FREE THINKERS THE BETTER
THE MORE THAT GO OFF CHASING RABBITS
WITH FISTS A THUNDERING ON THE DOORS OF PERCEPTION
TO BREAK ON THROUGH TO THE OTHER SIDE
FEED YER HEAD!
FEED YER HEAD!
QUESTION REALITY
AND THE POWERS THAT BE.
FUCK YAH WE NEED MORE GONZO SIGHTINGS AND
MORE PIRATE SIGHTINGS
AND MORE FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER SIGHTINGS
READ MORE BOOKS!
FEED THE MIND AND FREE IT
I HAD TO CRACK OPEN MY SKULL SO I COULD SEE
KILL ALL THE GODS LIVING IN ME
KILL MY GODS AND SELL MY SOUL
LIVE OFF OF BOOKS, POT, GROG & ROCK N’ ROLL
TUMBLE ALICE AND TELL ME WHAT YOU SEE
AFTER YOU BURN YOUR WINGS
AND FIND THE RABBIT HOLE
IS A WORMHOLE
IN THE MATRIX OF REALITY.
FALL ON THROUGH TO THE OTHER SIDE
BUY THE TICKET TAKE THE RIDE
WE’RE WAITING FOR YOU
THERE’S NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME TO DREAM
AS WE BETTER UNDERSTAND THE NEW LAWS OF REALITY
DREAM WILD AND MAD AND FREE, PIRATE
“FOR WHEN THE GOING GETS WEIRD-
THE WEIRD TURN PRO
IT NEVER GOT WEIRD ENOUGH FOR ME”
- HUNTER S. THOMPSON
Hunter embodied the American Dream. He was has own mad Gonzo invention and interpretation of The American Dream with balls wide fucking open and no apologies. In the clarity of rum soaked, drug distilled madness, Hunter drag raced the American Dream across the desert of the Imagination, documenting its death until he took his own. He died like he lived- by his own rules. And with his death came the Death of one of America’s greatest Dreamers. And with his death came the death of the American Dream. Hunter S. Thompson and The American Dream drag raced each other straight to hell.
Winter and Easter have come to pass, and with Death comes Rebirth, Regeneration and new life. Thanks to Hunter and the Death of The American Dream, we are now free to resurrect her. So Dream Wild and Dream Free and Never stop Dreaming!
Dream On! Dream On! Dream until your dreams come true.
-AEROSMITH
Dreams are just prayers without the put on airs.
-JIM WHITE
LOVE666 MESSAGE FROM THE UNDERGROUND:
MOST OF YOU PROBABLY HAVEN’T HEARD THAT HUNTER S. THOMPSON HAS TEAMED UP WITH BLACKBEARD IN THE AFTERLIFE. HUNTER IS BLACKBEARD’S NEW MASTER OF ARMS STANDING BEHIND THE CANNONS OF THIS PIRATE REVOLUTION. SHIT’S BEEN HOPPING DOWN IN DAVY JONES’ LOCKER, WHERE BLACKBEARD, JESUS, THE FOUNDING FATHERS, GANDHI, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR, CALYPSO, VENUS AND COUNTLESS OTHERS HAVE GATHERED ON OUR BEHALF.
STAY TUNED FOR MORE REPORTS FROM DAVY JONES’ LOCKER.
God forbid the children of America grow up in a kudzu strangled landscape of crosses, Golden Arches and the Red White and Blue of Walmart with no sign of Gonzo for salvation. We need to be and represent the change we want to see in the world. Both Jesus and Gonzo spoke out against and questioned the governments of their day. I think Jesus would be the first one to sport a pair of Gonzo Converse to go with his pirate eye patch to help him see in the dark and his "I Love Mom" tattoo on his arm.
Gonzo Pirate
Davy Jones’ Locker, NC
“Now and then we had a hope, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates.” - Mark Twain