Tom Wolfe and The Gonzo Way
Hope you’re having a good Friday. It’s beautiful here at Owl Farm – 75 degrees and breezy.
Tom Wolfe and I had a great talk yesterday. I interviewed him for The Gonzo Way. He is sharp and witty as ever. He compared Hunter to Mark Twain and talked about their history that goes back to La Honda and Ken Kesey. For today’s wisdom, I decided to pull a bit out of a letter that Hunter wrote to Mr. Wolfe on April 21, 1968. Hunter loved Tom Wolfe’s sociological term “behavioral sink,” and offered up his own word jewel: “atavistic endeavor.” Both men are word masters (along with Mark Twain of course) so enjoy:
“The term itself is a flat-out winner, no question about it. Every now and then I stumble on a word-jewel; they have a special dimension, like penetrating oil. Right? “Behavioral Sink” is up in that league with my all-time, oft used champ, the “Atavistic Endeavor.” I picked that up in a Ketchum, Idaho bar about five years ago and I suspect it’s appeared in every article since then.
–Hunter S. Thompson. April 21, 1968
Your friend,
Anita Thompson
Owl Farm
