RIP Christopher Hitchens

[Grahame]

I was lucky enough to catch him in full force at a local bookshop on an authors tour. He was accompanied by a couple of miniatures of Black Label.

So Long Hitch.

http://www.newyorker...r-hitchens.html

[blessingx]

Not unexpected, but damn.

Piece from a week ago: http://t.co/qXYGDo7G

Good slide-show of photos: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2011/12/christopher-hitchens-slideshow-201112

Edited December 16, 2011 by blessingx

[limp]

Damn. I had no idea he was even sick.

He had a sharp tongue and a strong voice of reason. He'll be missed.

[MoonShine]

So long Hitch.

“What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.”

― Christopher Hitchens

All dressed up and no place to go

[skullguise]

Wow, I had only a passing familiarity with him and next to none with his work. Reading some of the links above makes me sad about how much I have missed. Will definitely look more into his work.....

RIP.....

[Voltron]

I haven't kept up with him or any other journalist but I used to love reading his column in The Nation.

Rest and Peace don't seem like appropriate wishes for him. How about: kick ass and take names wherever you are Hitch!

[blessingx]

In the last year a ton of videos have appeared from the past. Check out this Buckley v. Hitchens one looking back to the 60s. Really f*&kin' good (try to ignore host and his props). Also interesting to watch as he took the other side in more recent events (may even help clarify the reasons).

[blessingx]

The Atlantic Hitchens archive.

[roadtonowhere08]

Though I never really followed him, I planned (and still intend) to read up on his body of work just because he was a hell of a debater. That's always a plus in my book.

I thought this was a good (and fitting) read: http://religion.blog...hens/?hpt=hp_c2

Edited December 17, 2011 by roadtonowhere08

[roadtonowhere08]

By the way, if anyone has the time, I would really appreciate a link to your favorite complete debate involving him.

[crappyjones123]

Hitchens and Stephen fry vs Desmond tutu and some stupid lady - is the catholic church a force of good in the world? All over YouTube.

[blessingx]

Err... Archbishop John Onaiyekan and Ann Widdencombe.

At the risk of pigeon-holing him as just a New Atheist, here's a particularly relavent vid...

And not my favorite, but worth watching his Mother Teresa critique...

Edited December 17, 2011 by blessingx

[blessingx]

[dsavitsk]

I used to like his stuff in The Nation. I saw him speak in Chicago in early 2001. He showed up very late, appeared to be very drunk, and was pretty incoherent. I found most of his post 9/11 commentary to be pretty repellent, and I largely stopped paying any attention to him.

A not so nice writeup, http://www.salon.com..._figure_deaths/

And an apropos and ironic quote from Orwell (from the article), "The people who write that kind of stuff never fight; possibly they believe that to write it is a substitute for fighting. It is the same in all wars; the soldiers do the fighting, the journalists do the shouting, and no true patriot ever gets near a front-line trench, except on the briefest of propaganda-tours."

Edited December 17, 2011 by dsavitsk

[blessingx]

A Stephen Fry & friends/IQ2 Hitchens tribute last month.

[dsavitsk]

This one's pretty good, too http://gawker.com/5868761/christopher-hitchens-unforgivable-mistake

[Grahame]

Plenty of material on YouTube. Quite the legacy.

If you want some insight into the man and his life, you could do worse than his memoir Hitch 22

The local library had the unabridged version on 15 Cd's. All the better for the authors delivery and inflection.

Plenty of Debates out there. I Liked the Munk debate on religion, if only to see Tony Blair get Hitchslapped.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYMyxa5fysI&list=UUO2aPSqobmHAeeV7SOOEtIw&index=1&feature=plcp

or a nice line about Sarah Palin

[MoonShine]

I found most of his post 9/11 commentary to be pretty repellent

As did I.