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Paris, February 22, 2005

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Here is my deep gratitude to Hunter: For Gonzo journalims which I believe made first person reportage acceptable (Hunter T. acceptable???)...and thrives with writers like yourself.
 
As a radical phenomenologist (see Merlau Ponty for some on phenomenology) I cannot see the self as separate from the environment. Somehow Hunter knew this and he included himself; he was subjective. Subjective is the way we see most of the time. Only in moments does something become "objective" truly. (See quantum physicist F. David Peat: Seven Lessons of Chaos Theory.)
 
This may seem such a little thing but what it does, when we look a little more deeply, is debate the existence of so called objectivity and absoulute truth that folks like Bush and Co. so value.
 
Thompson was, I believe, not a post-modernist who could deconstruct the world into meaninglessness, identifying the isms that were present. Passionate engagement was the name of the game.
 
Thompson was a participator with total gusto and fearlessness. He threw himself into the blender of life. He admitted he had a viewpoint. Journalism would be well served by examing the phenomena of so called objective truth.
 
Truth and beauty are not relative; they are relational. Hunter knew this and I am grateful for his passionate grabbing at and relating to life. I will miss him a whole lot.
 
He was a much more brilliant radical than we may ever know. Rest in piece, dear Duke. Maybe we will have the guts to continue wrestling with our mutual subjects as artists of our own lives, reporting out to our communities.
 
Nancy Peden

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