BY SHELLY WILCOX
Dear Woody Creatures and Friends,
Dr. Hunter S. Thompson was a genius! For the sake of all of us around Aspen, he saved the Woody Creek Valley and its rivers. He spent countless hours and attended hundreds of meetings creating and supporting land-use codes and regulations. His service to humanity and vision of peace should be remembered by all generations to come.
Hunter Thompson was courageous, and he gave me courage when I moved from Aspen to Woody Creek, I wanted to be a politician. He helped me get elected to the caucus and he encouraged me. He nicknamed me “The Virgin Politician,” because he said I hadn’t been screwed yet.
There was once a hearing that would drastically change and possible destroy our priceless treasure of the elk migration corridor through Woody Creek. The open meadows, rolling hills, and fields were to be built up with monster homes. Everyone’s testimonies — lawyers, environmentalists, and experts on elk — were not convincing enough. Hunter’s was. I called him from the Pitkin County courthouse and within an hour he was in that courtroom. He delivered a speech that shook the walls and left the developers trembling. “Greedheads,” he called them, and when he spoke, everyone listened. He stopped the “Musick.” He saved our land.
Hunter continually battled urban sprawl. He challenged commissioners to be good stewards of the land. When we at W/J were besieged with Greed-heads, he taught me not to be afraid or intimidated. He even invited college students during the X-Games into his home for political discussions. He illuminated our minds.
He campaigned for strict land-use controls during the airport runway expansion election in 1995. “No 737’s! There is some shit we won’t eat” is still my favorite bumper sticker. What an incredible sense of humor.
Remember him as you pass through Woody Creek, Aspen’s rural hamlet. The elk herd, about two hundred, is grazing on the sagebrush. My views are pristine and peaceful, and I have Dr. Hunter Thompson to thank. We all do.
