Ghost of a flea: Christopher Hitchens, 1949-2011

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December 16, 2011

Christopher Hitchens, 1949-2011

A gift, dare we say it, from God.

There was no subject too big or too small for Christopher. Over the past two decades he traveled to just about every hot spot you can think of. He’d also subject himself to any manner of humiliation or discomfort in the name of his column. I once sent him out on a mission to break the most niggling laws still on the books in New York City. One such decree forbade riding a bicycle with your feet off the pedals. The photograph that ran with the column, of Christopher sailing a small bike through Central Park with his legs in the air, looked like something out of the Moscow Circus.

Vanity Fair hosts photos in memoriam.

Also: Julian Barnes remembers an excruciating conversation with Christopher Hitchens.

“Hitch, did you read my novel?” Almost as soon as I had said it, I knew it was a mistake.

And: The Richard Dawkins Foundation is publishing a selection of Christopher Hitchens obituaries.

Better yet: Links to an audio archive of fifty Christopher Hitchens conversations with Hugh Hewitt.

Hitch porn: "Here are a couple of [Christopher Hitchens] appearances on early episodes of Peter's Uncommon Knowledge, along with another lost dazzler, William F. Buckley, Jr., who I hope is needling Hitchens nonstop at this very moment."

The only proper tribute: How do you deal with the death of a great person who doesn't believe in heaven? This problem I know from experience.

But wait: The immortal rejoinders of Christopher Hitchens.

Finally: On deathbed repentance.

Updates: Peter Hitchens, In Memoriam, my courageous brother Christopher, 1949-2011.

Here’s a thing I will say now without hesitation, unqualified and important. The one word that comes to mind when I think of my brother is ‘courage’. By this I don’t mean the lack of fear which some people have, which enables them to do very dangerous or frightening things because they have no idea what it is to be afraid. I mean a courage which overcomes real fear, while actually experiencing it.

Posted by Ghost of a flea at December 16, 2011 08:48 AM