Dubbed the Year of Gonzo, 2019 has seen a range of museum exhibits, festivals and celebrations of the work of novelist and counterculture icon Hunter S. Thompson. But the scope of the year reaches far beyond an annual celebration of one of Louisville's most famous sons.

Though Thompson's work, which established the form of "Gonzo" journalism, maintains its relevance decades after it was published, his legacy remains dichotomous. His image is split between the boozy, drug-fueled antics of a character he built and ultimately trapped himself in and a key figure in American literature.

But Thompson, the character, overshadowed the depth of his work. His literary impact often gets lost behind the sunglasses and the cigarette-in-mouth caricature.

The Year of Gonzo hopes to change that.

The movement to reframe the narrative around Thompson's legacy in Louisville has been spearheaded by Ron Whitehead, a poet and one of the founders of Gonzofest, the literary festival that celebrates Thompson's legacy and mark on journalism, culture and politics.

Twenty-five years ago, Whitehead, a former professor at the University of Louisville, and historian Douglas Brinkley had a conversation about Thompson's legacy in Louisville.

"Doug and I talked about how somebody in this town has got to start honoring and paying tribute to Hunter S. Thompson — to his life and work," Whitehead said of that conversation.

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How could Thompson's birthplace just gloss over his legacy? It didn't seem right and certainly wasn't a fitting tribute to such a powerful counterculture icon. So the men devised a plan — to start a movement and rekindle Louisville's love with the eccentric writer.

Brinkley didn't live in Louisville, so Whitehead took up the mantle — cigarette-in-mouth caricature and all.

"We shook hands," Whitehead said. "I made the commitment to do all I could to just get people involved."

But that was easier said than done. For a while, he said, nothing happened.

That was until Whitehead and Dennie Humphrey, the owner of the now-closed Monkey Wrench bar and restaurant in Louisville, joined forces to create Gonzofest, now in its ninth year.

This year's festival at the Louisville Free Public Library coincided with three separate Thompson-centric museum exhibits at the Speed Art Museum, Frazier History Museum and University of Kentucky Art Museum. Not to mention that famed illustrator and at-times Thompson sidekick Ralph Steadman appeared at the Kentucky Derby 49 years after his visit with Thompson in 1970, the year Thompson wrote "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved."

If Thompson was alive, he might say Louisville has finally "bought the ticket and taken the ride" on the Gonzo train.

"This truly is the year of Gonzo, and so it’s like everything I started 25 years ago is reaching fruition," Whitehead said of the perfect storm that is 2019.

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Today, there is a growing and renewed literary interest in Thompson's most iconic works, not just his caricature, according to Rory Feehan, a Thompson scholar who holds a doctorate of English language and literature.

"He is an icon," Feehan said. "He revolutionized journalism. Tom Wolfe called him one of the greatest comic writers of the 20th century, kind of the counterculture’s Mark Twain, and I just think that Hunter didn’t quite get the recognition he deserved, which is understandable in a way because of the character."

That's changing today as his work is becoming more mainstream — something the author might have actually hated.

The Speed Art Museum exhibit on Thompson focuses on the years between 1965 and 1974, when Thompson wrote some of his most notable work, including "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and "Hell's Angels." Both Thompson's words and the visuals that accompanied them remain relevant and timely nearly 50 years later, said Erika Holmquist-Wall, curator at the Speed, 2035 S. 3rd. St.

"I think visitors will hopefully come away with a better understanding or want to come back and revisit (Thompson's work) and really read what he was writing and get a sense of what he was trying to achieve: calling out American culture and counterculture at the time," Holmquist-Wall said.

Revisiting the work nearly 50 years later begs the question of what Thompson would write about American culture today, Holmquist-Wall said.

"We can only surmise," she said. "I think it would be equally no holds barred."

Feehan said it's a pity Thompson is no longer alive to write about what Feehan says is the "outrage age."

"I’ve often been thinking lately about what would Hunter be like on Twitter," Feehan said. "What would a 4 a.m. Twitter back-and-forth between Hunter and Kanye West be like? Or Donald Trump?"

See also:Thurby goes Gonzo 49 years after Hunter S. Thompson's iconic visit

Through all of his pop culture icon status, Thompson remains a "polarizing figure," Holmquist-Wall said.

"You can often associate (Thompson) with this crazy, drug-fueled guy, but I think what this show really aims to do is reposition and retell that narrative and focus on his importance as an American writer," Holmquist-Wall said.

The exhibit at the Frazier History Museum, 829 W. Main St., aims to do the same. Titled "Freak Power," the exhibit documents a lesser-known part of Thompson's life: his campaign for sheriff of Aspen, Colorado, in 1970.

Thompson's campaign was what Penelope Peavler, president and CEO of the Frazier, called the ultimate act of Gonzo journalism. The Frazier wants to see Thompson take place among great American writers and be honored in Louisville, "the city that shaped him," she said.

"When you put aside the character of Hunter S. Thompson and you focus on what he was actually saying, you see the brilliance," Peavler said. "... Stripping away the personality and looking at the impact on journalism and looking at the impact on people, on getting involved in your community, on how the counterculture changed America, then you begin to see that he should take his place as a great American writer."

While Louisville is clearly making progress to honor Thompson, Whitehead's plan is far from complete.

The ninth Gonzofest and so-called Year of Gonzo marked both the end of an era and the beginning of a new phase of Whitehead's vision for Louisville's tribute to Thompson, he said.

Related:This new summer exhibit honors the legacy of Hunter S. Thompson

"Louisville will be the international, global mecca for anything related to Hunter S. Thompson and Gonzo like it is now for (Muhammad) Ali," Whitehead said.

His next step is to get Thompson's literary archives to the city of Louisville. The archives belong to Thompson's grandson, but actor Johnny Depp, another Kentucky native who played Thompson in the "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" film, is the custodian of the writings, the actor said in an interview with British GQ.

In Whitehead's vision, a preexisting space — perhaps the main library where Gonzofest is held, the Frazier or the Speed — will become home to the archives and a place for people from around the world to learn about the life and work of Thompson.

But when and if that happens remains to be seen.

"That’s what I know Hunter would like it to be," Whitehead said. "Not only a place where people could see his life and work and honor it, pay tribute to it, but where they can also find their own original voices."

Reach Laurel Deppen at ldeppen@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter at @laurel_deppen.