Hunter S. Thompson

Born on July 18th, 1937, Hunter Stockton Thompson grew up as a middleclass kid from Louisville Kentucky. After getting into a little trouble with the law right before graduation, he wasn’t able to graduate. A week after getting out of jail, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force where he got his first taste of professional writing covering sports. He was eventually honorably discharged but Hunters attitude was a major factor in his separation from the military.

After he left the Air Force, Thompson worked for several companies including as a copy boy for Time Magazine. During his time moving around from Pennsylvania to New York and later California, he used a typewriter to copy works like The Great Gatsby and A Farewell to Arms in order to improve his work. He was eventually fired from the Times for insubordination in 1959 which spurred his westward trek across the US until landing in Ellen California early in 1964. By 1974, his writing had progressed to the point of fulfilling a book deal for Random House Publishing. That book was Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is one of the most influential American literary works in the last century. First published in Rolling Stone as a two-part article, Fear and Loathing received critical acclaim and introduced the world to his kind of journalism: Gonzo. Thompson heard the word Gonzo used to describe his work in correspondence once and claimed it. Gonzo encompasses his gritty kind of first person narrative while being just outside the popular narrative to show his independence from more traditional writers.

Fear and Loathing spawned a movie in 1998 that performed well and gave an even wider audience access to his disillusioned and visceral writing style. With drugs and the loss of the American Dream being the main elements of his most popular work, his writing has introduced many people to the world of illicit substances and has earned its place as a cult classic. He was plagued throughout his career with depression and eventually lost the will to fight on.

Thompson continued to write until his death in February of 2005 from a self-inflicted gun wound. He died on the property he had bought with a $6,000 advance as a down-payment and lived at since 1964. He left a suicide note that said "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 bitchy. No Fun — for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your (old) age. Relax — This won't hurt."

Hugh Hefner

Born in Chicago during the spring of 1926, Hugh Marston Hefner was the son of two school teachers from Nebraska. During his early life, Hugh served in the Army during World War 2 as a writer for the newspaper. After the war, he attended University of Illinois where he graduated with a BA in Psychology. Hugh double minored in creative writing and art as well which served him well in the years since.

Hugh Hefner earned his early writing acclaim during his time at Esquire Magazine. When he finally left Esquire in 1953 due to getting denied a raise, he gathered almost 50 investors and launched Playboy. The December 1953 issue of Playboy featured the 1949 layout of Marilyn Monroe and sold over 50,000 copies. Hefner has often received flak for the content his magazine publishes but has maintained that it is his first amendment right to publish what he chooses to.

Since the launch of Playboy, Hefner has set himself up as a dominant cultural figure to generations. Using the platform that Playboy offers, Hefner has spread awareness of many issues facing America with cannabis being one of them. When asked in an interview before receiving his First Amendment Award at the PEN Center USA’s 20th Annual Literary Awards Festival in Los Angeles about his position on cannabis, he had this to say “… it is a medical concern and it should be handled that way.” His open acceptance of cannabis may not change any laws today, but his celebrity status goes a long way in getting the conversation onto the table.

Carl Sagan

The son of a Russian immigrant and a teacher from Brooklyn, Carl Edward Sagan was born in Brooklyn during November of 1934. His close relationship with his parents were a strength and a challenge for Carl when as he puts it, “My parents were not scientists. They knew almost nothing about science. But in introducing me simultaneously to skepticism and to wonder, they taught me the two uneasily cohabiting modes of thought that are central to the scientific method.”

As an adult, Sagan and his colleagues would create time capsules similar to the ones he was inspired by as a child at the 1939 World’s Fair. These time capsules that would be sent out into space as the Pioneer plaque and the Voyager Golden Record. During his work for NASA, Sagan worked on many amazing projects besides the Pioneer and Voyager missions he is best known for. These included investigating the atmosphere of Venus, discovering the reason Titan has a reddish haze, producing amino acids (building blocks of life) from radiation drenched chemicals to name but a few of his numerous contributions.

One thing Carl Sagan was vocal about was cannabis use and legalization. At the age of 35, Sagan assisted Dr. Lester Grinspoon in writing Marihuana Reconsidered which was published in 1969. In his essay, Sagan says "The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world."

Sagan continued using and advocating cannabis until his death in 1996 from pneumonia at the age of 62. His wife said that at the end of his days, “Carl faced his death with unflagging courage and never sought refuge in illusions.” The contributions made to the world by Carl Sagan have created ripples that have gone far beyond his physical presence. He has inspired a generation of scientists and created a legacy of scientific discovery and acceptance that will last generations.