Hunter Thompson biographer makes Aspen stop

ASPEN — How did Hunter S. Thompson become the anti-establishment embodiment of Gonzo, fighting politicians, editors and even friends in no-words-barred journalism?

As his acquaintance William McKeen tells it in “Outlaw Journalist: The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson,” the late Woody Creek icon came out that way.

Even as a kid in Louisville, Ky., Thompson was charismatic, reckless, a rebel — and infatuated with the idea of words as tools of power. Even at the peak of his success and popularity, from the mid-’60s through the mid-’70s, he never lost his most critical tool — his self-image as an outsider — allowing him to look at the Hell’s Angels, Richard Nixon, Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner, and the entire American political system through confrontational eyes.

McKeen kicks off his book tour with a 3:30 p.m. appearance on Friday, July 18 — Thompson’s birthday — at Explore Booksellers, 221 E. Main St.