Shotgun Golf in Japan

I wasn't planning to post anything on the suicide of "gonzo" journalist Hunter S. Thompson.

I never read much of his stuff, and what I did read never made me want to read more. Certainly his comments on America's reaction to 9-11 struck me as offensive and off-base.

Legend has it he also once gave a speech at Harvard Law School while completely drunk. That's a neat stunt to pull at one of the world's more uptight law schools (and that's saying a lot), but it didn't strike me as the sign of a great talent. He seemed like a drug-addled Sixties relic, with correspondingly negligible relevance today.

Well, maybe so. But he could be quite amusing.

Michelle Malkin points out Hunter's last published piece of writing, just this past Wednesday, on ESPN.com.

The title? "Shotgun golf with Bill Murray." In which he calls up the greatest comic actor of our time, the man behind the legendary Carl Spackler, at 3:30 in the morning. And asks if he'd like to fire shotguns at golf balls in Japan:

HST: "Are you ready for a powerful idea? I want to ask you about golf in Japan. I understand they're building vertical driving ranges on top of each other."

BILL (sounding strangely alert): "Yes, they have them outdoors, under roofs ..."

HST: "I've seen pictures. I thought they looked like bowling alleys stacked on top of each other."

BILL: (Laughs.)

HST: "I'm working on a profoundly goofy story here. It's wonderful. I've invented a new sport. It's called Shotgun Golf. We will rule the world with this thing."

BILL: "Mmhmm."

HST: "I've called you for some consulting advice on how to launch it. We've actually already launched it. Last spring, the Sheriff and I played a game outside in the yard here. He had my Ping Beryllium 9-iron, and I had his shotgun, and about 100 yards away, we had a linoleum green and a flag set up. He was pitching toward the green. And I was standing about 10 feet away from him, with the alley-sweeper. And my objective was to blow his ball off course, like a clay pigeon."

BILL: (Laughs.)

HST: "It didn't work at first. The birdshot I was using was too small. But double-aught buck finally worked for sure. And it was fun."

BILL: (Chuckles.)

HST: "OK, I didn't want to wake you up, but I knew you'd want to be in on the ground floor of this thing."

BILL: (Silence.)

HST: "Do you want to discuss this tomorrow?"

BILL: "Sure."

HST: "Excellent."

Hunter S. Thompson, rest in peace.