I am lucky enough to have met Hitch on two separate occasions at parties, but I never dared entreat any of our mutual friends to arrange more intimate conversations. To be perfectly honest, it was because he was one of the few people on the planet with whom I could legitimately say I was awestruck and I couldn't bear the thought of boring a man I so greatly admired. My admiration remains so strong that I don't think I could properly convey my thoughts or feelings about him with the eloquence due him, so I'll just direct you to the two best reflections I've read about him: one by Christopher Buckley, and the other by Hitch's brother, Peter.
The video below was made as a get well tribute to him after his cancer diagnosis that I happened upon some time ago. It is an excerpt from a speech Hitch gave in defense of atheism against the assumptions of Christianity, and in support of finding truth and beauty in self-education in the absence of religion. I think its enduring message is particularly apt upon his death.
Christopher Hitchens, RIP.
bellum medicamenti delenda est
2 comments:
It would be nice to be able to speak with him now that he knows the rest of the story on the other side.
Hadn't seen this video yet. Though provoking and haunting, really. He will definitely be missed for years to come.
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