Despite his various addictions and even the fact that he was a suicide, Hunter S. Thompson has been widely lionized, by people from Johnny Depp to Jimmy Carter, and “the possible repercussions of such sentiments” have some people worried, says Michael Roberts. In a commentary for Denver alternative newsweekly Westword, he talks to some of those concerned, such as Brenda Gierczak of the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Colorado, who tells Roberts that it’s “disconcerting how his suicide has been glorified.” She notes celebrity suicides spawn others, and adds, “This is a serious issue in the mountain states. We have the seventh-highest suicide rate in the nation here, and that’s huge — absolutely huge. It’s something we need to work really hard to bring down.” Roberts also surveys press coverage, particular local coaverage, and finds only one reporter, John Aguilar of the Rocky Mountain News, whose reports “leavened compliments with comments from ‘a source close to the family,’ who called Thompson ‘a raging addict and an abusive man.'”