Hunter S Thompson, the US writer whose drug-fuelled 'gonzo journalism' presented the reverse side of the American dream and made him a counter-cultural icon, has been found dead at his home in the Colorado mountains.

Thompson, 67, who was best known for his 1972 book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, appears to have shot himself in the head at his ranch near the ski resort of Aspen.

His son, Juan Thompson, who discovered the body last night, released a statement to the Aspen Daily News: "On February 20, Dr Hunter S Thompson took his life with a gunshot to the head at his fortified compound in Woody Creek, Colorado... Hunter prized his privacy and we ask that his friends and admirers respect that privacy as well as that of his family."

Police in Aspen, where Thompson once ran for the office of sheriff on a "freak power" ticket, confirmed Thompson's "apparent death by a self-inflicted gunshot wound".

Thompson is survived by his second wife, Anita Beymunk, whom he married two years ago, his son Juan and a grandson.

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