John Clarke Jr. blogs at Radar that the estate of Hunter S. Thompson is in talks with shoe company Converse about a gonzo-branded edition of Chuck Taylor low-tops. Clarke writes that the discussion has been ongoing since 2005, shortly after the writer fatally shot himself. Snip:
"Since he bought his first pair in the early 1960s in San Francisco he has worn them every day of his life," the author's widow Anita Thompson tells Radar. "There are still over 70 pairs of them at the house."
That hasn't stopped some from crying "sellout." And it's tough to tell whether Hunter himself would have approved of the endorsement. He was never against making a fast buck. He always loved schemes, but was always generous and never greedy. In the 1970s, he had no problem posing for Levi photo ads. In 1999, when I convinced Porsche to loan him a new car to test drive for a review in the San Francisco Examiner Magazine, he got slapped for shilling. And he could've given a fuck. He thanked me. We talked on the phone for years afterward.
Link.
Image: Converse ad with Dr. Thompson at far left.
