William Joseph Cardoso (September 24, 1937 - February 26, 2006) was an American journalist who was known for coining the term "

gonzo journalism Gonzo journalism is a style of journalism that is written without claims of objectivity, often including the reporter as part of the story using a first-person narrative. The word "gonzo" is believed to have been first used in 1970 to descri ...

". Cardoso was born in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

and raised in

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 81, ...

. He was the youngest of three brothers and had one daughter, Linda Cardoso. He studied journalism at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

and in 1967 he joined ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' and shortly thereafter became editor of the ''Globe'' Sunday magazine. He eventually settled in California. While not as well known as his literary friends, he wrote for many publications in the 1960s and 1970s such as ''

Crawdaddy! ''Crawdaddy'' was an American rock music magazine launched in 1966. It was created by Paul Williams, a Swarthmore College student at the time, in response to the increasing sophistication and cultural influence of popular music. The magazine w ...

'', ''

Harper's Weekly ''Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization'' was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper (publisher), Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many su ...

'', ''New Times'', '' Ramparts'', and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

''. He was also a good friend of Hunter S. Thompson and was present for the legendary Rumble in the Jungle. His work was collected in a 1984 volume called ''The Maltese Sangweech and Other Heroes''. He also fondly shared his memories of Hunter S. Thompson with E. Jean Carroll for her 1993 biography, ''Hunter''. Cardoso died of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...

in the early morning of February 26, 2006, at his home in Kelseyville, California, aged 68.

References

External links

Bill Cardoso -- journalist who coined the word 'Gonzo'

Bill Cardoso
1937 births 2006 deaths Boston University College of Communication alumni Writers from Cambridge, Massachusetts 20th-century American journalists American male journalists American people of Portuguese descent {{US-journalist-1930s-stub