"Louisville, the cultural center of the Bluegrass State and home to the Kentucky Derby, is famous for its production of cheese-burgers, cigarettes, gin, half the world's bourbon, and Hunter Thompson." Thompson was born during the Great Depression to Virginia Ray and Jack Thompson. Thompson was the oldest of three sons, he led the way from the beginning of his life. Thompson and his family lived in a rural middle-class area in a neighborhood with many other families just like theirs. "His parents, Virginia Ray and Jack, were both alcoholics, and because of Thompson, the family was looked down upon in the neighborhood." He became a troublemaker from the beginning. Thompson was always getting into trouble with they boys that lived around the neighborhood. "Jack, an insurance salesman, was a believer in corporal punishment and practiced it frequently on his two oldest sons, Hunter and Davidson." Jack continued to be strict with Thompson until the end of his life.
             Thompson had many playmates throughout his childhood. He had one during every stage of his life. "Hunter's boyhood pal was Duke Rice. They were crazy about sports. They used to watch the Louisville Colonels through holes in the outfield fence at Parkway Field." Thompson and Rice stayed very close childhood friends. They were together constantly until a new boy named Gerald Tyrrell moved into a house around the block from the Thompsons. Tyrrell and Thompson hit it off from the start. They continued to be good friends as they grew up and matured together. When they became teenagers the two started to become interested in girls together. Thompson's father suddenly died of a heart attack when he was fifteen years old. This was right around the time that he first started drinking. Drinking was natural for everyone to do in the town, Thompson was bound to start sooner or later. This was the start of ...