A Memorial, Ribald and Reverent, for Christopher Hitchens

[rug]

Mark Mahaney for The New York TimesChristopher Hitchens in 2007.

April 17, 2012, 7:01 pm
By DAVID CARR

On Friday in the Great Hall of Cooper Union, friends and fans of Christopher Hitchens, the author and columnist who died on Dec. 15, will gather for “some highmindedness and some laughs,” according to Graydon Carter, the editor of Vanity Fair.

“Christopher was brilliant and incredibly funny, so I’m hoping the memorial will reflect that,” said Mr. Carter, who was both a friend and editor to Mr. Hitchens, a columnist at the magazine for almost 20 years. To that end, writers, including Stephen Fry, Martin Amis, Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan and Christopher Buckley will share some memories about the man many of his friends called “Hitch.” His prolificacy at the keyboard and at various bars will undoubtedly come up, as will the capers he pulled on his way to becoming one of the most provocative essayists in recent literary history. He drank, he said, “to make other people less boring.”

He never had that problem. Mr. Hitchens had no compunction about jabbing his pen into sacred figures, like Mother Teresa, or ripe targets, like Henry Kissinger. An atheist to the end, Mr. Hitchens did not find God on the way out the door, but continued to type and publish up to the end of his life.

His wife, the writer Carol Blue, helped organize part of the program, which will also include Francis Collins, the National Institutes of Health director who played a role in Mr. Hitchens’s care after he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, and the physicist Lawrence Krauss. (Perhaps Mr. Krauss can explain how Mr. Hitchens ended up with an asteroid named after him.)

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/17/a-memorial-both-ribald-and-reverent-for-christopher-hitchens/

De mortuis nihil nisi bonum.

[eqfan592]

1. I most certainly did not agree with everything the man said and believed...

...but I will miss him a great deal. I always enjoyed reading and listening to him, even when I didn't remotely agree with him.

[mr blur]

2. Ah rug, couldn't resist a little dig, eh?

There were a number of things about Hitchens to disagree with or dislike, not least his support of the war.

No-one here would claim that he was perfect - it's not as if he were Mother Teresa, or the Pope for example.

[rug]

3. You are quite right, mr blur.

Contrary to Plato, wisdom does not lie in realizing the ideal but in recognizing our imperfections.

[cbayer]

4. I remember the first time I saw him speak, and I was stunned.

He was clearly very bright and articulate and controversial, but he appeared to be, well, flat out drunk.

Nonetheless, he was entertaining and worth listening to, although I disagree with so much of what he had to say.

I knew one thing, though. I sure wouldn't want to be on his enemies list.

Rest in peace, Mr Hitchens, whatever that might be.

[laconicsax]

5. Some people can be quite articulate when drunk.

[cbayer]

6. And some just think they are, lol.