Joseph Gerth

@Joe_Gerth

Hunter S. Thompson, a Louisville native and the inventor of "gonzo" journalism in which he meshed reporting with his vivid imagination and drug use, has been elected to the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame.

Thompson, who committed suicide in 2005, will be inducted April 29, along with six more traditional journalists including Mark Hebert, who reported for WHAS-TV before going to work in public relations at the University of Louisville, and Lee Mueller, the longtime Eastern Kentucky reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Thompson is currently the subject of an effort to have a "Hometown Heroes" banner hung somewhere in the city. Other such banners honor Muhammad Ali, Bob Edwards, Pat Day and Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, among others. The banner will be unveiled between 5 and 6 p.m. Saturday at 418 East Main, as part of the GonzoFest activities this weekend to honor him.

Ron Whitehead, a friend of Thompson's who spearheaded the banner effort, said the 15-foot-by-40-foot banner will feature a drawing of Thompson by Ralph Steadman, who for decades illustrated Thompson's books and magazine articles.

Thompson's career spanned six decades, beginning with a stint covering sports for a U.S. Air Force base newspaper in Florida. Over the years, he contributed to Scanlan's Monthly magazine, where he wrote his breakout piece, "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved," and more famously was a correspondent for Rolling Stone Magazine.

He also wrote for, among others, The New York Times, Boston Globe, Esquire, Playboy, Time and Vanity Fair. Early in his career, Thompson applied for a job at The Courier-Journal and was rejected.

Over the years, Thompson wrote more than a dozen books, including "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail," "Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs" and "The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales From a Strange Time."

Also to be inducted will be Elizabeth Hansen of Eastern Kentucky University; Dave McBride of the Ohio County Times News; Mike Philipps of the Kentucky Post and Cincinnati Post; and Wes Strader, of Western Kentucky University.

The Hall of Fame is administered by the University of Kentucky's School of Journalism and Telecommunications.

Reporter Joseph Gerth can be reached at (502) 582-4702. Follow him on Twitter at @Joe_Gerth.