Thompson and Hearst

I've been noodling out articles related to the Thompson book. The idea is to raise its profile, but it's also a reminder of how many worthy stories are packed into every substantial book.

Only one of those articles has actually appeared. (I'm not counting a bit of self-promotion I produced for a local newspaper.) Publicists prefer to hold pieces until the book is available for sale, so the delay between producing and publishing these articles is fine. These days, of course, it's easy to preorder books online, so the rule isn't observed as strictly as it used to be. And I freely admit that I like to see the articles go up as quickly as possible.

That first piece has to do with Hunter Thompson and the Hearst family. I decided to write it while watching Citizen Hearst, the new PBS documentary. In the book, I show how a young Hunter Thompson tried to hire on at the San Francisco Examiner, then targeted the Hearst papers in his early journalism. In the mid-1980s, however, Thompson worked for Will Hearst at the Examiner. I also mention Thompson's later work at ESPN, where the Hearst Corporation was (and is) a major shareholder.

I sent the piece to Tim Redmond at 48 Hills, and he responded quickly and positively.

As I say, there will be more. Look for something on Thompson and Oscar Acosta later this month in the Los Angeles Review of Books, then a couple more pieces closer to the book's publication date. Those articles will run in new outlets for me, but one of them isn't new at all; in fact, it's a venerable American institution.