Today is the birthday of Christopher Hitchens. I was unfortunate to have only discovered him late in his life, being that I am not a reader of Vanity Fair, or any of the publications he’d show up in when he was alive. Christopher was a polemic who argued philosophically against religion. I only discovered him in time to hope for his recovery from cancer in late 2011, however he succumbed to pneumonia, canonising his debate and leaving a void in the Atheist camp that cannot be easily filled. He hobnobbed with cultural elite, and with the likes of Salman Rushdie, James Randi, and Sam Harris. While his actual contributions to the debate were almost nothing, his style, his recollection, and his ability to defend his view put him among the top intellectuals of his time. Happy Birthday Hitch!
Kelsey J Bacon