Thu Dec 15, 2011, 11:59 PM

CreekDog (37,053 posts)

In Memoriam: Christopher Hitchens, 1949–2011

Christopher Hitchens—the incomparable critic, masterful rhetorician, fiery wit, and fearless bon vivant—died today at the age of 62. Hitchens was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in the spring of 2010, just after the publication of his memoir, Hitch-22, and began chemotherapy soon after. His matchless prose has appeared in Vanity Fair since 1992, when he was named contributing editor.

“Cancer victimhood contains a permanent temptation to be self-centered and even solipsistic,” Hitchens wrote nearly a year ago in Vanity Fair, but his own final labors were anything but: in the last 12 months, he produced for this magazine a piece on U.S.-Pakistani relations in the wake of Osama bin Laden’s death, a portrait of Joan Didion, an essay on the Private Eye retrospective at the Victoria and Albert Museum, a prediction about the future of democracy in Egypt, a meditation on the legacy of progressivism in Wisconsin, and a series of frank, graceful, and exquisitely written essays in which he chronicled the physical and spiritual effects of his disease. At the end, Hitchens was more engaged, relentless, hilarious, observant, and intelligent than just about everyone else—just as he had been for the last four decades.

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2011/12/In-Memoriam-Christopher-Hitchens-19492011

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138 replies	Author	Time	Post
In Memoriam: Christopher Hitchens, 1949–2011 (Original post)	CreekDog	Dec 2011	OP
Aw shit, another great voice lost just when we need him most. RIP Chris!	riderinthestorm	Dec 2011	#1
RIP. He was wrong about Iraq but right about so much	tishaLA	Dec 2011	#2
Oh, no!	Suich	Dec 2011	#3
Oh that's so sad	housewolf	Dec 2011	#4
That's really a shame	bluestateguy	Dec 2011	#5
I enjoyed reading "God Is Not Great" and his recent autobiography "Hitch 22"	alp227	Dec 2011	#6
I just posted about him...didn't always agree but he was an interesting person. ...	Historic NY	Dec 2011	#7
Is the thread locked?	SkyDaddy7	Dec 2011	#121
:(	Roselma	Dec 2011	#8
RIP	redqueen	Dec 2011	#9
R.I.P. :( n/t	Tx4obama	Dec 2011	#10
RIP Christopher Hitchens	Bozita	Dec 2011	#11
He'd have picked the candidate most likely to advocate war on Iran	Critters2	Dec 2011	#61
RIP. Though not in heaven as we know that doesn't exist.	stopbush	Dec 2011	#12
Oh no -	KT2000	Dec 2011	#13
A pity he was a warmonger and a rat	The Second Stone	Dec 2011	#14
I'm honestly looking for	Union Scribe	Dec 2011	#18
for his more recent stuff, look up his personal experience with torture/waterboarding	JI7	Dec 2011	#20
Will do.	Union Scribe	Dec 2011	#21
Good on water boarding, absolutely vile and despicable during Clinton impeachment circus.	emulatorloo	Dec 2011	#41
I've read that he disliked Clinton on a personal level	DavidDvorkin	Dec 2011	#43
Actually, his position on waterboarding was that it was torture, but a good idea nonetheless.	Critters2	Dec 2011	#107
Try reading what he wrote.	PassingFair	Dec 2011	#42
That's it? Really? He supported wrongheaded ideas by writing well?	Critters2	Dec 2011	#62
He supported his own opinions by writing well AND speaking eloquently.	PassingFair	Dec 2011	#65
People aren't all one thing. These attempts to gravedance are tasteless in my opinion.	DirkGently	Dec 2011	#115
"God is Not Great" and his Henry Kissinger film endeared him to me	RandomKoolzip	Dec 2011	#47
No tears here	The Second Stone	Dec 2011	#56
Well said. Thank you! nt	Critters2	Dec 2011	#106
Aye. I Would Enjoy Reading a Noam Chomsky-Penned Obit	NashVegas	Dec 2011	#116
I know. he was waterboarded but still advocated it. he was a nasty conservative but he has a big	roguevalley	Dec 2011	#84
Ahmad Chalabi	DissedByBush	Dec 2011	#89
Brilliant- right or wrong.	Gregorian	Dec 2011	#15
:(	LadyHawkAZ	Dec 2011	#16
On waterboarding: "Believe Me, It’s Torture"	greyl	Dec 2011	#17
as an Atheist, i say Thanks to Chris	JI7	Dec 2011	#19
Hitchens didn't mind being called "Hitch," but he always corrected people who called him "Chris,"	stopbush	Dec 2011	#28
yeah, i was just too lazy to type it all out	JI7	Dec 2011	#36
Hitchins discusses life and death with Lateline's Tony Jones (ABC Australia)	Matilda	Dec 2011	#22
R.I.P.Chris	ecoalex2	Dec 2011	#23
He drank too much, he hated Mother Theresa and Princess Diana, he was insufferable,	MADem	Dec 2011	#24
Had he done nothing else,	Manifestor_of_Light	Dec 2011	#30
Hear! Hear! Rest in peace, Mister Hitchens.	Raster	Dec 2011	#91
I'd give him 5 for 5 just for what you wrote.	GoneOffShore	Dec 2011	#52
Sad day	Vehl	Dec 2011	#25
Full of gin...	ellisonz	Dec 2011	#26
He was called "a drink-sodden former Trotskyist popinjay" by "Gorgeous" George Galloway,	MADem	Dec 2011	#92
Nope.	ellisonz	Dec 2011	#93
I miss ya, Chris...	No DUplicitous DUpe	Dec 2011	#27
RIP - K&R n/t	DeSwiss	Dec 2011	#29
What a talent gone. Didn't agree with him on everything but man could he write.	applegrove	Dec 2011	#31
This message was hidden by jury decision.	Loudmxr	Dec 2011	#32
Oh one more thing he clued me in on the joke about Hugh Walpole	Loudmxr	Dec 2011	#35
He didn't look all that Jewish?	oberliner	Dec 2011	#39
His mother was jewish	Cherchez la Femme	Dec 2011	#60
So what?	oberliner	Dec 2011	#63
You know. Jews all look like this...	Bucky	Dec 2011	#90
Well demonstrated	oberliner	Dec 2011	#102
Yes, but you dont understand. There is no "looking Jewish" To say there is reinforces a negative	stevenleser	Dec 2011	#69
Gee, I dunno	Cherchez la Femme	Dec 2011	#73
Luck is not needed. I've explained to you where the definition of "looking Jewish" comes from	stevenleser	Dec 2011	#75
I, for one, appreciate you pointing this out	oberliner	Dec 2011	#77
Something I was going to add	Cherchez la Femme	Dec 2011	#80
He was a pain in the ass...I hated him except for when I liked him....	Rowdyboy	Dec 2011	#33
+1	Gormy Cuss	Dec 2011	#50
Well said.	dog_lovin_dem	Dec 2011	#117
Meh, I'll refrain from comment	ButterflyBlood	Dec 2011	#34
RIP buddy.	blackspade	Dec 2011	#37
read his last article a few days ago.	DesertFlower	Dec 2011	#38
he will be missed	Warren Stupidity	Dec 2011	#40
My criterion for deciding which friends to e-mail the obituary to	UTUSN	Dec 2011	#44
Right. I'm wondering what exactly about this guy there is to admire. nt	mistertrickster	Dec 2011	#46
Agreed. I suspect that those who are waxing sentimental here	Critters2	Dec 2011	#59
I'm beginning to think that too.	Union Scribe	Dec 2011	#98
This:	PassingFair	Dec 2011	#79
My point precisely. Atheist neocons get a pass.	Critters2	Dec 2011	#108
It's not a pass, but rather the ability to criticize the bad and appreciate the good.	iris27	Dec 2011	#123
Really? All believers? No believer ever criticizes the inappropriate acts of another believer?	Critters2	Dec 2011	#131
Did I say "all" believers? No.	iris27	Dec 2011	#133
We do it to Reinie Niebuhr all the time in the UCC.	Critters2	Dec 2011	#137
Well, now I have some examples.	iris27	Dec 2011	#138
Really a reminder of what the community has lost, isn't it?	iris27	Dec 2011	#124
If nothing else, his courage in the face of serious illness	LeftishBrit	Dec 2011	#81
It was his JOB to be controversial.	mistertrickster	Dec 2011	#136
But a great guy nonetheless.	Critters2	Dec 2011	#64
LOL nt	mistertrickster	Dec 2011	#72
From Galloway vs. Hitchens Debating the War in Iraq, 2005	mistertrickster	Dec 2011	#45
Wasn't that...	CJvR	Dec 2011	#109
That wasn't the debate I heard. I heard Mr. Hitchens get his ass kicked. nt	mistertrickster	Dec 2011	#127
Nah...	CJvR	Dec 2011	#134
So you like Hitchens, who shilled for the pack of lies Bush sent 5,000 Americans to die for,	mistertrickster	Dec 2011	#135
Hitch told me he would get in touch with me, if there is anything "After".	comipinko	Dec 2011	#48
He's just got his hands full.	Remember Me	Dec 2011	#70
Bless his heart...	LanternWaste	Dec 2011	#49
That is a low blow.	comipinko	Dec 2011	#51
RIP	d_b	Dec 2011	#53
Rest in peace Hitch. nt	bemildred	Dec 2011	#54
He was never dull or boring.	Why Syzygy	Dec 2011	#55
I dooubt those who died in a war he strongly advocated found him "charming".	Critters2	Dec 2011	#57
I'd like to think it's just respect for the recently deceased	nxylas	Dec 2011	#66
Hillary Clinton "advocated for that war" as well.	PassingFair	Dec 2011	#68
Not as strongly and consistently as Hitchens.	Critters2	Dec 2011	#105
Well here's an idea ...	Why Syzygy	Dec 2011	#76
"an IMPERFECT person"? HA!	CrawlingChaos	Dec 2011	#83
I guess I'm not fully aware.	Why Syzygy	Dec 2011	#95
So, you're smarter than Hitchens was. nt	Critters2	Dec 2011	#111
I wasn't fooled by the WMD scam.	Why Syzygy	Dec 2011	#120
I'll hunt up the essay where Hitchens said Ahmed Chalabi was credible. nt	Critters2	Dec 2011	#130
because he was an atheist who spoke out. pure and simple	roguevalley	Dec 2011	#86
He's not a neo-con nor is he responsible for the ...	Deep13	Dec 2011	#112
He mostly certainly was a Neo-con. nt	Critters2	Dec 2011	#119
A warmongering Neo-Con who wrote well.	Critters2	Dec 2011	#58
OK, we get it.	PassingFair	Dec 2011	#67
I disliked him, for the most part, but I grieve nonetheless	Remember Me	Dec 2011	#71
Many times (not always) he could write my thoughts more clearly than I could speak them.	Moostache	Dec 2011	#74
Rest in Peace, Mr. Hitchens. nt	humblebum	Dec 2011	#78
peace for him.	stuntcat	Dec 2011	#82
RIP Mr. Hitchens.	RoccoR5955	Dec 2011	#85
Never appreciated his ignorant attacks on those of us who opposed the lies that got us into Iraq.	Dr Fate	Dec 2011	#87
Adios, you old scrapper	Bucky	Dec 2011	#88
Bright iconoclast, but tough to get past Iraq	Faygo Kid	Dec 2011	#94
I know he was a bit controversial	Skittles	Dec 2011	#96
Didn't always agree with you but I certainly respected you	jimlup	Dec 2011	#97
He may have been a royal pain in the arse. . .	DinahMoeHum	Dec 2011	#99
esophageal cancer must be a tough one...	Hulk	Dec 2011	#100
Damn, not a surprise, but still	kewhawaii	Dec 2011	#101
Completely wrong about Iraq but completely right about everything else.	Smarmie Doofus	Dec 2011	#103
He was brave enough to take on the MSM and deride Mother Teresa.	CTyankee	Dec 2011	#104
He died as he lived...	Deep13	Dec 2011	#110
How did he fight against impossible odds?	Critters2	Dec 2011	#114
I'm not arguing with you about it.	Deep13	Dec 2011	#122
Don't hate him. Just don't love him. Or think he should get a pass on his advocacy for	Critters2	Dec 2011	#132
Goddess Bless Him	AnnieBW	Dec 2011	#113
We always lose the great voices right when we need them.	thescreaminghead	Dec 2011	#118
“Beware the irrational, however seductive...."	Deep13	Dec 2011	#125
Hitchens discusses Jerry Falwell with Anderson Cooper. (video)	Deep13	Dec 2011	#126
Christopher Hitchens on circumcision.	Crunchy Frog	Dec 2011	#128
Unlike some on here, he had his faults. Like most on here he had his good side. He was still	madmom	Dec 2011	#129

Response to CreekDog (Original post)

Fri Dec 16, 2011, 12:04 AM

riderinthestorm (13,153 posts)

1. Aw shit, another great voice lost just when we need him most. RIP Chris!

You will be sorely missed.

In Memoriam: Christopher Hitchens, 1949–2011

1. Aw shit, another great voice lost just when we need him most. RIP Chris!

2. RIP. He was wrong about Iraq but right about so much

3. Oh, no!

4. Oh that's so sad

5. That's really a shame

6. I enjoyed reading "God Is Not Great" and his recent autobiography "Hitch 22"

7. I just posted about him...didn't always agree but he was an interesting person. ...

121. Is the thread locked?

8. :(

9. RIP

10. R.I.P. :( n/t

11. RIP Christopher Hitchens

61. He'd have picked the candidate most likely to advocate war on Iran

12. RIP. Though not in heaven as we know that doesn't exist.

13. Oh no -

14. A pity he was a warmonger and a rat

18. I'm honestly looking for

20. for his more recent stuff, look up his personal experience with torture/waterboarding

21. Will do.

41. Good on water boarding, absolutely vile and despicable during Clinton impeachment circus.

43. I've read that he disliked Clinton on a personal level

107. Actually, his position on waterboarding was that it was torture, but a good idea nonetheless.

42. Try reading what he wrote.

62. That's it? Really? He supported wrongheaded ideas by writing well?

65. He supported his own opinions by writing well AND speaking eloquently.

115. People aren't all one thing. These attempts to gravedance are tasteless in my opinion.

47. "God is Not Great" and his Henry Kissinger film endeared him to me

56. No tears here

106. Well said. Thank you! nt

116. Aye. I Would Enjoy Reading a Noam Chomsky-Penned Obit

84. I know. he was waterboarded but still advocated it. he was a nasty conservative but he has a big

89. Ahmad Chalabi

15. Brilliant- right or wrong.

16. :(

17. On waterboarding: "Believe Me, It’s Torture"

19. as an Atheist, i say Thanks to Chris

28. Hitchens didn't mind being called "Hitch," but he always corrected people who called him "Chris,"

36. yeah, i was just too lazy to type it all out

22. Hitchins discusses life and death with Lateline's Tony Jones (ABC Australia)

23. R.I.P.Chris

24. He drank too much, he hated Mother Theresa and Princess Diana, he was insufferable,

30. Had he done nothing else,

91. Hear! Hear! Rest in peace, Mister Hitchens.

52. I'd give him 5 for 5 just for what you wrote.

25. Sad day

26. Full of gin...

92. He was called "a drink-sodden former Trotskyist popinjay" by "Gorgeous" George Galloway,

93. Nope.

27. I miss ya, Chris...

29. RIP - K&R n/t

31. What a talent gone. Didn't agree with him on everything but man could he write.

35. Oh one more thing he clued me in on the joke about Hugh Walpole

39. He didn't look all that Jewish?

60. His mother was jewish

63. So what?

90. You know. Jews all look like this...

102. Well demonstrated

69. Yes, but you dont understand. There is no "looking Jewish" To say there is reinforces a negative

73. Gee, I dunno

75. Luck is not needed. I've explained to you where the definition of "looking Jewish" comes from

77. I, for one, appreciate you pointing this out

80. Something I was going to add

33. He was a pain in the ass...I hated him except for when I liked him....

50. +1

117. Well said.

34. Meh, I'll refrain from comment

37. RIP buddy.

38. read his last article a few days ago.

40. he will be missed

44. My criterion for deciding which friends to e-mail the obituary to

46. Right. I'm wondering what exactly about this guy there is to admire. nt

59. Agreed. I suspect that those who are waxing sentimental here

98. I'm beginning to think that too.

79. This:

108. My point precisely. Atheist neocons get a pass.

123. It's not a pass, but rather the ability to criticize the bad and appreciate the good.

131. Really? All believers? No believer ever criticizes the inappropriate acts of another believer?

133. Did I say "all" believers? No.

137. We do it to Reinie Niebuhr all the time in the UCC.