HUNTER S Thompson, the acerbic counterculture writer who popularised a new form of fictional journalism in books such as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, shot and killed himself on Sunday night at his Aspen-area home, his son said. He was 67.

Hunter S. Thompson, the acerbic counterculture writer who popularised a new form of fictional journalism in books like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, fatally shot himself last night at his Aspen-area home, his son said. He was 67.