Have We Found This Generation’s Hunter S. Thompson?

THE turbulent brilliance and trailblazing spirit of Hunter S. Thompson, the iconic American author and founder of the Gonzo journalism movement, may finally have found a new home in the shape of a Dublin man in his late twenties who gets drunk some weekends, and regularly post memes of Hunter S. Thompson quotes to his 396 followers on Twitter.

Hunter S. Thompson lived from 1937 until his death in 2005, when he killed himself with a gunshot blast to the head after a lifetime of substance-fuelled rampages which formed the basis of his most iconic works, such as Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas. Thompson’s legacy and creative output has never been equalled before or since his death, until the arrival on the scene of a Terenure native who watched most of the 1998 film adaptation of Fear And Loathing one night on telly, and just really likes the notion of being this cool rebellious figure that everyone likes.

Part-time mad bastard Peter Mills, 29, regularly comments about how Thompson’s daily 19-hour drink and drug binges are basically the same as the five or six cans of lager he drinks at the weekend, and the essence of the revered author’s trademark hellraising talent is readily apparent in Mills’s hourly postings of banter-filled videos from sites with LAD in their name.

“I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they’ve always worked for me,” said IT consultant Mills, effortlessly repeating one of Thompson’s most famous quotes.

“I mean, I’ve never really done much drugs outside of a joint or two when I was in the ‘Dam with the lads, and the only fight I’ve been in was when a rugby game got a little out of hand, but the insanity part, well, I think all my friends would agree that I’m just crazy! I’m just like, such a mad bastard”.

“Honestly. I write about it on Twitter all the time. Look at this tweet I wrote on Saturday night on the way home from the pub; ‘BRRR! Cold AF tonite! Pure epic bantz wit d lads in town though! Gonna get stuk into leftover carbonara when I get home #CANTWAIT!!’… that’s just literally something Hunter S. would have written, walking down Harcourt Street, if he had Twitter”.

Mills went on to stress that he was perfectly happy with not having had a girlfriend for over 7 years, showing us his Facebook feed where he had just posted an image containing the Thompson quote ‘I don’t see how you can respect yourself if you must look in the hearts and minds of others for your happiness’.