Hunter S. Thompson and Keith Richards were more than just twin giants of their respective fields, innovators who inspired thousands of others to imitate and build on their unique styles — they were also - it turns out - pen pals. After a failed attempt to produce a filmed interview between the two men in New York City, Thompson corresponded with Richards via fax to send his regrets and express hope that the interview could be rescheduled. For the first time ever, we at Ranker are proud to offer exclusive access to this fascinating glimpse into the life and mind of two of the most influential men in 20th century pop culture.

To bring some context to this historical artifact, we've provided our own annotations for this fax below, presented in a style we like to think Thompson would have loved. Take a look and learn more about this amazing "substance summit" and the circumstances that almost prevented it from taking place.

Read the full, hand-written fax first — then check out our annotations below the fax to figure out what the hell Hunter was talking about.