The most distinctive fact about James Thompson was that he was one of two brothers of writer Hunter Thompson (1937-2005), the other being Davison (1940-). Until his twenties he lived in Louisville, Kentucky.
His father, Jack died when he was but three. He and his two brothers were left to contend with their habitually drunk mother, Virginia, a librarian. Jim would tell stories of having to take a cab when he was a teenager to pick her up from the pavement where she had passed out after Hunter and Davison moved away. His troubled youth greatly influenced the course of his life.
By the early 1970s, Jim was frankly gay to his Louisville friends. Like his famous brother, Jim adopted left-wing politics and the "counter culture" of the 1960s, singing in a local folk music group. Moving to Lexington in his early twenties, he supported himself as a house painter and was a volunteer disk jockey for the University of Kentucky radio station, using the on-air name "Edgar Jelly." He lived with his lover at 302 E. Maxwell St. and liberally smoked marijuana, as was his custom throughout adulthood.
In 1975, then in his mid twenties, Jim moved with his mate to San Diego, and then in 1976 to San Francisco, where he fittingly lived at the intersection of Haight and Ashbury (609 Ashbury St.). He formed friendships and had liasons with other homosexual men who were unknowingly sharing the HIV virus before the AIDS tragedy uncoiled. In 1978 he had a bitter split with a subsequent lover who survived a jump out of the second story window of Jim's apartment when Jim called the police to have him removed.
His adult life was little more happy than his youth. He derived scant pleasure from what he considered mundane jobs, and spoke more critically than favorably of his friends. He sported an "Eat the Rich" button to reflect his political resentments. Among his eccentricities was the habit of collecting used bus transfers so that he could avoid paying fares.
Although Hunter is thought by many to have epitomized liberal tolerance, Jim felt that his famous brother spurned him because of his homosexuality. He also expressed bitterness about Hunter's success and wealth, and the way his brother had treated him as a child. Jim did a modest bit of writing on his homosexuality. He was disdainful of homosexuals who were effeminate, and loathed the drag queen aspect of gay culture. He was also critical of those he called "Castro clones," who were gay men living conventional lifestyles.
Probably his most satisfying and extended work was as a clerk in various health food stores.
Eventually his embittered life ended with his death from AIDS complications.
His father, Jack died when he was but three. He and his two brothers were left to contend with their habitually drunk mother, Virginia, a librarian. Jim would tell stories of having to take a cab when he was a teenager to pick her up from the pavement where she had passed out after Hunter and Davison moved away. His troubled youth greatly influenced the course of his life.
By the early 1970s, Jim was frankly gay to his Louisville friends. Like his famous brother, Jim adopted left-wing politics and the "counter culture" of the 1960s, singing in a local folk music group. Moving to Lexington in his early twenties, he supported himself as a house painter and was a volunteer disk jockey for the University of Kentucky radio station, using the on-air name "Edgar Jelly." He lived with his lover at 302 E. Maxwell St. and liberally smoked marijuana, as was his custom throughout adulthood.
In 1975, then in his mid twenties, Jim moved with his mate to San Diego, and then in 1976 to San Francisco, where he fittingly lived at the intersection of Haight and Ashbury (609 Ashbury St.). He formed friendships and had liasons with other homosexual men who were unknowingly sharing the HIV virus before the AIDS tragedy uncoiled. In 1978 he had a bitter split with a subsequent lover who survived a jump out of the second story window of Jim's apartment when Jim called the police to have him removed.
His adult life was little more happy than his youth. He derived scant pleasure from what he considered mundane jobs, and spoke more critically than favorably of his friends. He sported an "Eat the Rich" button to reflect his political resentments. Among his eccentricities was the habit of collecting used bus transfers so that he could avoid paying fares.
Although Hunter is thought by many to have epitomized liberal tolerance, Jim felt that his famous brother spurned him because of his homosexuality. He also expressed bitterness about Hunter's success and wealth, and the way his brother had treated him as a child. Jim did a modest bit of writing on his homosexuality. He was disdainful of homosexuals who were effeminate, and loathed the drag queen aspect of gay culture. He was also critical of those he called "Castro clones," who were gay men living conventional lifestyles.
Probably his most satisfying and extended work was as a clerk in various health food stores.
Eventually his embittered life ended with his death from AIDS complications.
The most distinctive fact about James Thompson was that he was one of two brothers of writer Hunter Thompson (1937-2005), the other being Davison (1940-). Until his twenties he lived in Louisville, Kentucky.
His father, Jack died when he was but three. He and his two brothers were left to contend with their habitually drunk mother, Virginia, a librarian. Jim would tell stories of having to take a cab when he was a teenager to pick her up from the pavement where she had passed out after Hunter and Davison moved away. His troubled youth greatly influenced the course of his life.
By the early 1970s, Jim was frankly gay to his Louisville friends. Like his famous brother, Jim adopted left-wing politics and the "counter culture" of the 1960s, singing in a local folk music group. Moving to Lexington in his early twenties, he supported himself as a house painter and was a volunteer disk jockey for the University of Kentucky radio station, using the on-air name "Edgar Jelly." He lived with his lover at 302 E. Maxwell St. and liberally smoked marijuana, as was his custom throughout adulthood.
In 1975, then in his mid twenties, Jim moved with his mate to San Diego, and then in 1976 to San Francisco, where he fittingly lived at the intersection of Haight and Ashbury (609 Ashbury St.). He formed friendships and had liasons with other homosexual men who were unknowingly sharing the HIV virus before the AIDS tragedy uncoiled. In 1978 he had a bitter split with a subsequent lover who survived a jump out of the second story window of Jim's apartment when Jim called the police to have him removed.
His adult life was little more happy than his youth. He derived scant pleasure from what he considered mundane jobs, and spoke more critically than favorably of his friends. He sported an "Eat the Rich" button to reflect his political resentments. Among his eccentricities was the habit of collecting used bus transfers so that he could avoid paying fares.
Although Hunter is thought by many to have epitomized liberal tolerance, Jim felt that his famous brother spurned him because of his homosexuality. He also expressed bitterness about Hunter's success and wealth, and the way his brother had treated him as a child. Jim did a modest bit of writing on his homosexuality. He was disdainful of homosexuals who were effeminate, and loathed the drag queen aspect of gay culture. He was also critical of those he called "Castro clones," who were gay men living conventional lifestyles.
Probably his most satisfying and extended work was as a clerk in various health food stores.
Eventually his embittered life ended with his death from AIDS complications.
His father, Jack died when he was but three. He and his two brothers were left to contend with their habitually drunk mother, Virginia, a librarian. Jim would tell stories of having to take a cab when he was a teenager to pick her up from the pavement where she had passed out after Hunter and Davison moved away. His troubled youth greatly influenced the course of his life.
By the early 1970s, Jim was frankly gay to his Louisville friends. Like his famous brother, Jim adopted left-wing politics and the "counter culture" of the 1960s, singing in a local folk music group. Moving to Lexington in his early twenties, he supported himself as a house painter and was a volunteer disk jockey for the University of Kentucky radio station, using the on-air name "Edgar Jelly." He lived with his lover at 302 E. Maxwell St. and liberally smoked marijuana, as was his custom throughout adulthood.
In 1975, then in his mid twenties, Jim moved with his mate to San Diego, and then in 1976 to San Francisco, where he fittingly lived at the intersection of Haight and Ashbury (609 Ashbury St.). He formed friendships and had liasons with other homosexual men who were unknowingly sharing the HIV virus before the AIDS tragedy uncoiled. In 1978 he had a bitter split with a subsequent lover who survived a jump out of the second story window of Jim's apartment when Jim called the police to have him removed.
His adult life was little more happy than his youth. He derived scant pleasure from what he considered mundane jobs, and spoke more critically than favorably of his friends. He sported an "Eat the Rich" button to reflect his political resentments. Among his eccentricities was the habit of collecting used bus transfers so that he could avoid paying fares.
Although Hunter is thought by many to have epitomized liberal tolerance, Jim felt that his famous brother spurned him because of his homosexuality. He also expressed bitterness about Hunter's success and wealth, and the way his brother had treated him as a child. Jim did a modest bit of writing on his homosexuality. He was disdainful of homosexuals who were effeminate, and loathed the drag queen aspect of gay culture. He was also critical of those he called "Castro clones," who were gay men living conventional lifestyles.
Probably his most satisfying and extended work was as a clerk in various health food stores.
Eventually his embittered life ended with his death from AIDS complications.
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