Hunter S Thompson is gone and the world will be a quieter place for it. Or so I’m told; something inside me still suspects that it could be some big joke that the good doctor is playing on the rest of us. It would be an incredible and brutal premise for the next great American novel: Notes From Beyond the Grave – A Strange and Terrible Saga of Depravity and Politics in the Afterlife. The sense of humour would fit but I imagine that it’s just wishful thinking from a long term Thompson fan. At least he will live on through his work. Res Ipsa Loquitor, RIP HST. Ben Hayes, London

Wasted genius and curve-ball! Above all HST was a showman. Did great stuff once upon a time; really great stuff that merit a place in the literary hall of fame. Sadly, as we all know, heroic abuse of any substance takes it's toll. I guess the excessive behaviour he's been know for in recent years is down to a mix of frustration over a lost talent, and genuinely individual behaviour traits. That said, his supreme sense of humour seems to have remained intact (running for sheriff, for exmple). I hope that future generations of readers and broad-minded people everywhere will take the time to find out what the gonzo was all about. (Give 'em Hell up there Doc!). Angus MacDonald, Milan

The good doctor transformed journalism, re-invented the travelog, inspired a generation of writers, became a renowned iconoclast, was revered for his incredible style, wit and originality in print... His "unusual" lifestyle may have tarnished his reputation, undermined the later quality of his work, but "loser"? Please! If only the rest of us had a fraction of his talent, a soupcon of his life experiences, a sliver of his spirit. Jody Quinn, Belfast

"Was he a someone to be admired, a literary pioneer, or a self-destructive waster of talent?" How about all three? As a writer myself, I greatly admired his work and his absolutely original approach to reporting. And I think there is no question that he was a literary pioneer. But, as someone with his own self-destructive demons which I have frequently tried to silence with drink and, far less often, with a variety of drugs, I also know how easy it is to cross the line between excellent work and impaired effort (I've read that, during his last year or so, Brendan Behan would have only about half an hour of marvelous lucidity a day between agonizing hangovers and incoherent drunkenness). To some extent I am sure HST wasted his talent, although I also suspect he exaggerated his reports of his drink and drug use during many of his assignments. Andrew Hagen, Chicago, USA

Thomson was a loser precisely because he was a genius. He was a unicorn, beautiful and rare and ultimately doomed. As in all other aspects of his work, he was brutally honest about his own loser-hood and his status as a unicorn. Many are the journalists and writers who don't own up to their peculiarities. Writers are weird people and that weirdness has a profound influence on whatever "truth" they attempt to tell. The beauty of "gonzo" was that Thompson's weirdness, chemically-induced or otherwise, was on display at all times. It was part of the "truth", at least to the extent that Thompson believed in that word. That was his gift to us, a gift that evidently cost him dearly. J P Nuttall, Buffalo, USA

How sad that so soon after the death of another great icon of the left, Arthur Miller, we now lose the genius that is Hunter S Thompson, a man who was not afraid to be human, and who was also not that proud to be either. I finished reading Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas for the first time only yesterday, feeling like I had finally discovered a writer with an ability to truly point out how insane the world is - only to find out the very next day that my new found hero is dead. RIP Dr T and thank you. Natasha, Lincolnshire

Genius! The hard to believe news first hit my mobile phonethen I checked the news on the internet. It came as a shock: the loss is too colossal to be easily digested. Even in our part of Europe, his articles and books are widely read - for although he wrote about what some may perceive primarily as a reflection of American reality, the message sent to his readers has a much broader validity and relevance, and is indeed transferable across all modern societies. On the Campaign Trail, for instance, should be read by all considering entering the realm of politics - if we ever had a political reporter, analyst, commentator of his talent, capacity, sharp insight and finely weird style of writing, our political discourse would be quite different! He will be greatly missed - we should be eternally grateful for what he managed to write and publish during his lifetime. Jana Chrzova, Prague, Czech Republic

There is genius in his work, but he had an addictive personality. Without his active drug and alcohol use his impact would have been even greater - and he would probably still be here to compell us. Falvia Fresonke, Minneapolis, USA 

"A self-destructive waster of talent?" I think you really missed the mark on that one. Hunter Thompson showed us that you didn't have to play by the establishments rules to get ahead in this world. I can tell you, as an aspiring writer, that I learned far more about journalism from reading Dr. Thompson's writings than I ever did in four years of college. In my opinion, he was a literary genius and should be celebrated as one. Jason de Iongh, Eureka, California, USA 

If ever there was an author for the 70/80s generation this was their hero. His work on the American state of mind, or politics, or even fishing, was cuttingly accurate and he will be greatly missed by all who tried to explore and blow apart the humdrum-ness of modern-day life. Wilf Mann, Kingston-upon-Thames

I am certain that Hunter Thompson would relish the storm of opprobrium from the American right his passing has engendered. The very people who he so exquisitely discribed, as did H L Mencken, are the new majority in this country, and as intellect falls more and more away from popularity, the inarticulate snarling that charicterises such icons of the right as Rush and Reilly needed the clear and often cutting clarity of a Hunter Thompson reposte. Our country and especially it's youth is poorer for his leaving. Greg Wood, Washington DC, USA