Hunter S. Thompson, the so-called gonzo journalist, committed suicide on February 16, 2005, leaving instructions that his ashes should be shot out of a cannon, which happened in August of the same year. Thompson was 67 when he died, and his family and friends said that he was in pain from hip replacement surgery, back surgery, and a recently broken leg. He'd talked about suicide for years.

February was particularly grim month for him because football season was over. The brief suicide message, scrawled in black marker and titled "Football Season Is Over," reads as follows:

No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always [cranky]. No Fun—for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old age. Relax—This won't hurt.

At the bottom of the page Thompson reportedly drew a "happy heart," the kind found on Valentine's Day cards.