Ashby was one of the stars of Peter Biskind's famous book, Easy Riders Raging Bulls, in part because his early death was so narratively neat. He was older than Coppola and Bogdanovich, working his way up the long way via editing - he became one of the top editors in the country, working for William Wyler and most importantly Norman Jewison, who mentored him and championed him.
Ashby turned director with The Landlord and had a hot streak few directors have equalled - Harold and Maude, The Last Detail, Shampoo, Bound for Glory, Coming Home, Being There. Then he suffered a cold streak few directors endured - Second Hand Hearts (made before Being There but released after), Lookin' to Get Out, The Slugger's Wife, 8 Million Ways to Die.)
This happened for a variety of reasons - drug use certainly didn't help him, though was perhaps over exaggerated; more critically, he was supported in the 70s but had bad relationships with his studios and producers in the 80s, including people like Ray Stark. He missed out on some films which could have turned it around like Tootsie - he was going to do it but Lorimar wouldn't let him.
I think Ashby would have come back big time in the 90s, though - the way Robert Altman did, for a similar reason: stars loved working with him. This would have meant he would have kept working - indeed he was still in demand up til his early death.
So I don't buy that Hollywood killed Ashby. If you smoke a lot of dope it does carry an increased risk of cancer. He had bad luck with his collaborators but was still mates with Sean Penn, Dustin Hoffman and the like, who would have kept him employed - he wasn't say, a female director.
He seems to have had many fine qualities - inspirational, caring, humanistic - but also a prick - he walked out on his wife and kid as a teenager, which I do get, but also refused to acknowledge the kid later in life, which is awful. He was a compulsive romantic - always getting married and divorced.
It's a fantastic biography - very well researched, with excellent access to Ashby's papers. It's very well done in particular on Ashby's early years.
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