Christopher Hitchens: Remembering The Legendary Writer And Orator (VIDEO)

Christopher Hitchens was a journalist, an author, an atheist, a smoker, a drinker, a provocateur, a husband and a father. His death on Dec. 15 at the age of 62 was a surprise to many of his friends and fans, even though they knew he had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2010.

"We were friends for more than 30 years," Christopher Buckley said, "which is a long time but, now that he is gone, seems not nearly long enough."

For those who are unfamiliar with his work, this collection of Hitchens' speeches and interviews will provide an excellent portrait of the man and his very powerful words. Or click here to read his final essay for Vanity Fair.

• Authors@Google: Christopher Hitchens

  Author Christopher Hitchens discusses his book "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything" as a part of the Authors@Google series. The author of Why Orwell Matters and Letters to a Young Contrarian, Christopher Hitchens is a Vanity Fair contributing editor, a Slate columnist, and a regular contributor to The Atlantic Monthly. He has also written for The Nation, Granta, Harper's, The Washington Post, and is a frequent television and radio guest. Born in England, Hitchens was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, where he received a degree in philosophy, politics, and economics. He now lives in Washington, DC, and he became a US citizen in 2007. This event took place on August 16, 2007 at Google headquarters in Mountain View, CA.

• Hitchslap 61 - Hitchens and a 911 conspiracy theorist

  Christopher gives a 911 "truther" exactly what he deserves..

• Christopher Hitchens: Why Women Still Aren't Funny

  From www.VF.com Christopher Hitchens rebuts Alessandra Stanley's essay, "Who Says Women Aren't Funny?" To see more pictures and video, read more controversial commentary, and tell Hitchens what you think, visit vanityfair.com.

• Christopher Hitchens on Hannity & Colmes about Rev. Falwell's Death

  Christopher Hitchens along with Ralph Reed participate in a debate on the legacy of the Reverend Jerry Falwell. This was recorded from the Hannity and Colmes show of 16-May-2007. More information about Christopher Hitchens (from Wikipedia): Christopher Eric Hitchens (born April 13, 1949, in Portsmouth, England) is an Anglo-American author, journalist and literary critic. Currently living in Washington, DC, he has been a columnist at Vanity Fair, The Nation, Slate and Free Inquiry; additionally, he is an occasional contributor to other publications and has appeared regularly in the Wall Street Journal. His brother is British journalist Peter Hitchens. Hitchens is known for his iconoclasm, anti-clericalism, atheism, antitheism, anti-fascism and anti-monarchism. He is also noted for his acerbic wit and his noisy departure from the Anglo-American political left. He was formerly a Trotskyist and a fixture in the left wing publications of Britain and America. But a series of disagreements beginning in the early 1990s led to his resignation from The Nation shortly after the September 11, 2001, attacks. He is also known for his ardent admiration of George Orwell and Thomas Jefferson, and his iconoclastic criticism of Mother Teresa. While Hitchens' idiosyncratic ideas and positions preclude easy classification, he is a vociferous critic of what he describes as "fascism with an Islamic face," and his critics have been known to describe him as a "neoconservative". Hitchens, however ...

• Christopher Hitchens Rules!

  A compilation of Hitchens being Hitchens. Brutally honest, ballsy, abrasive, eloquent, and shnookered up!

• Christopher Hitchens: No Deathbed Conversion for Me, Thanks.

• Christopher Hitchens' polemic against Henry Kissinger

  Christopher Hitchens' latest book, "The Trial of Henry Kissinger" is a point-by-point indictment of Kissinger. Although viewed by many as the greatest statesman of his era, Hitchens refutes that and claims he is actually a war criminal. (Originally aired April 2001).

Comments

[Cullen Stapleton]

02:44 AM on 01/07/2012

What is going on with the site? The news stories are just cycling around and you can't click to play them!

[canadagrl74]

09:24 AM on 12/18/2011

Thank you Huff Po, for posting these articles on Hitch. I have never greived so greatly for a person I did not know personally. He was my most beloved writer and utterly irreplaceable.

In coming to these online forums of tribute, I feel a measure of community and collective regard that is comforting.

[HiramWdwsn]

10:15 PM on 12/17/2011

A great loss for all mankind. He was a brilliant mind. RIP Chris...

[ge971]

01:58 PM on 12/17/2011

cschoenen
Cannot reply to your reply. But it is so laced with B.S.
Sounds like a hour news program from FAUX News.
You may want to play more with your AM Radio Knob and search for PBS.

Don't Hate "O" Still President in 2012

[chavo]

09:25 PM on 12/16/2011

Unmatched, and never again one like him.

[epaga123]

05:56 PM on 12/16/2011

The conglomeration of atoms that were, for a very brief moment in history, collectively known by the name Christopher Hitchens, have begun to disperse.

The universe continues as before, uncaring and unaware.

[HiramWdwsn]

10:08 PM on 12/17/2011

While you're waiting your turn like anyone else...

[The Linda]

05:36 PM on 12/16/2011

What a wonderful, thought provoking mind Hitchens had. I will miss hearing his views!

[Demarcus Jackson]

05:11 PM on 12/16/2011

"The only position that leaves me with no cognitive dissonance is atheism. It is not a creed. Death is certain, replacing both the siren-song of Paradise and the dread of Hell. Life on this earth, with all its mystery and beauty and pain, is then to be lived far more intensely: we stumble and get up, we are sad, confident, insecure, feel loneliness and joy and love. There is nothing more; but I want nothing more." – Christopher Hitchens, The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Non-Believer, 2007

[nightingale23ks]

04:32 PM on 12/16/2011

Never have I been sadder at the loss of someone I did not even know since the death of Carl Sagan. Christopher, you will continue to live through your work, your children and the numerous people you have inspired with your courage, your wit and your superior intellect. You helped me and countless others, I'm certain, free themselves from the bondage of religious thinking and embrace the beauty of life itself. You were young when your life ended but you have left a legacy that will outlive all of us.

[nobodysgirl]

06:08 PM on 12/16/2011

Yes, you love him too, I can tell.

Feel like i've lost someone close to me, though I never knew him but wished to immensely.

Too sad a day.

[Akshay Singh]

03:44 PM on 12/16/2011

If there is a God, I hope Hitch is up there with him busting his chops and pointing out his bs.

[sklubbertonk]

02:01 PM on 12/16/2011

I had never heard of him until I saw this article. His Wikipedia entry reads " He argued that the concept of god or a supreme being is a totalitarian belief that destroys individual freedom, and that free expression and scientific discovery should replace religion as a means of teaching ethics and defining human civilization. " He was closer in his understanding than he knew, although he was operating at the level of mind / ego. Realization of "God" or unity, oneness, the source, the self, etc. does indeed destroy the "ego" but not the self. So I can understand the totalitarian viewpoint, since religion has often been assimilated by men seeking to suppress the ego of others in an attempt to direct their energies towards the service of that man. As the son of an academic / intellectual it pains me to see how one can become trapped at the level of mind though, and never go beyond it to understand the true source of religions. We must retrace the footsteps of them to the source which is God and then ultimately to ourselves as we are only temporary expressions of this reality.

[invisbl]

03:48 PM on 12/16/2011

If I am ever trapped at the level of Christopher Hitchens' mind... I'd be a very happy (and witty and erudite) lady.

"We must retrace the footsteps of them to the source which is God and then ultimately to ourselves as we are only temporary expression­s of this reality."

Curious: What should that ^^ mean to someone who doesn't believe? Research religion? Distill the most useful points of their holy books?

[sklubbertonk]

11:56 AM on 12/18/2011

There's still time. I believed, then lost faith and grasped at what the mind could offer. Thankfully I regained what was lost except I don't need to "believe" anymore. One must live belief to replace it with knowing. You don't even have to really "believe", just be kind and meditate. You have to shut down the mind - it is a great servant but a terrible master. The rest will take care of itself when you have become empty. The energies are very subtle and cannot be sensed without silencing the mind. Contrary to popular belief God doesn't care what we think with our minds. The notion that we are condemned if we don't believe in the resurrection on the cross is simply false. Men have distorted all of the major religions in some way because eventually what was delivered by truly enlightened beings was passed down by ordinary men driven by Ego. So don't be confused by those either. The divine is in you and you are divine. "He" is not outside you. Don't let anyone lie to you and don't believe the intelligent but spiritually undeveloped "preachers" out there. We are all miracles and we are surrounded by them at this moment. The world and all of it's beauty and creatures did not arise randomly as they would have you believe. You have a purpose which is to realize this.

[stonesoup]

01:51 PM on 12/16/2011

I will truly miss this man. He has helped me understand much of what I have felt over the years as a former Christian. I first read his book on Henry Kissingner. And after that I started listening to him every time I had the chance. The world has lost a great man and a very honest one at that. I thank him for just being in my world for the last 15 years. RIP Christopher!

[Hypocrites are Watching]

01:50 PM on 12/16/2011

A truly sad sad day :(

[Sydney Light]

01:43 PM on 12/16/2011

My heart hurts.... he will be sorely, sorely missed. Though he would not have approved, I say, God Speed, and I know you are in His arms.

[JeanLaffite]

01:37 PM on 12/16/2011

I have great admiration for Hitchens. He had strong opinions but was intellectually very honest. I remember when he submitted to waterboarding to prove it was not torture, but changed his mind after the experiment and wrote an article for Vanity Fair entitled “Believe Me, It’s Torture”. Great man, he will be missed, particularly by those of us who believe in secularism.