Hunter S. Thompson's Hudson Valley Connection

The one of a kind gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson spent several years working for a Hudson Valley newspaper until he was ultimately fired for looting the office candy machine.

Thompson was a reporter for the Times Herald-Record beginning in 1959 and lived in an unheated cabin by the Neversink River in Huguenot. According to The Record, it was during his time in the Hudson Valley that he would write his first novel 'The Rum Diary' which was turned into a movie starring Johnny Depp.

He would go on to get fired in 1961 after two incidents, and neither had to do with the fact he wouldn't wear shoes in the newsroom. One involved an argument with a client and the other the infamous candy machine looting. In Thompson's own words,

Several days ago I was instrumental in the looting of an office candy machine. I had put two nickels in the thing without getting anything out of it. I then gave it a severe rattling which rendered the coin slot obsolete. Word got around in the backroom — notably the managing editor. I was fired the next day.

Thompson started the job in Middletown after leaving the Air Force. He was a pioneer of 'gonzo journalism' where the reporter would make himself an essential part of the story. He spent time at Sports Illustrated and Harper's before he began an influential run at Rolling Stone magazine. Other works include 'Feat & Loathing In Las Vegas' and 'Hell's Angels'.

Hunter S. Thompson took his own life in 2005 at the age of 67.

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