Christopher Hitchens has passed away after a terrible battle with cancer. While not a few readers may be familiar with his various, energetic anti-religious polemics, perhaps a smaller number know his book on George Orwell, which I found to be both well-written (as is all of Hitchens’s work) and enlightening. And for something light, take a look at this short exchange between William F. Buckley, Jr. and Hitchens on the nature of the 1960’s counterculture — two elegant speakers having some fun with one another.
THE DEATH OF CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS reminds me of my interview with him in the mid 1990s when I hosted a cable TV show on Paul Weyrich’s network. I had Hitchens on to, primarily, discuss his pro-life, anti-abortion views which are unusual on the Left. At one point, alluding to a tabloid paper I had reporting that the devil had died in Mexico, I asked Hitchens — jokingly — what he knew about this report? And then the conversation turned to “religion” and his unbelief……comments welcome…
http://radio.iotconline.com/radio/aview/hitchens%201.mp3
John Lofton
Recovering Republican
JLof@aol.com
Editor, Archive.TheAmericanView.com
Communications Director, Institute on the Constitution
Active Facebook Wall.
I have sometimes grappled against Hitchens’ view of religion (see comment to Prof. DeGirolami’s post at http://clrforum.org/2011/10/13/religion-and-capital-punishment/). But intellectual debates aside, his passing was too early and a loss to the world, given his manifest and undeniable accomplishments. My heart goes out to his family and loved ones, as well as the larger public that he reached—those who knew and cherished his work. I, myself, envy, admire, and wholeheartedly respect his intellectual prowess and esteem.