MetaChat - Christopher Hitchens dead at 62.

MetaChat is an informal place for MeFites to touch base and post, discuss and chatter about topics that may not belong on MetaFilter. Questions? Check the FAQ. Please note: This is important.

16 December 2011

Christopher Hitchens dead at 62. Damn this makes me sad in a week full of sadness.

post by: arse_hat at: 01:04 | 13 comments

.

We've been talking about him a great deal lately, after reading his last article in VF last week. Furthermore, my husband is reading the Kissinger "On China" book, which made me go back and read more about Hitch's take down of Kissinger with great relish. That a man like Kissinger still walks this earth while his arch-nemisis The Hitch is gone is a damn shame.

Peace out, Hitch.

posted by msali 16 December | 01:30

RIP. I'm not sure what I think of him. Most of what I've read from him has been iraq war trumpeting. Apparently before and after that he also had some other good ideas on foreign politics, culture and atheism but you know, so did Kurt Vonnegut and Gore Vidal. I'm getting a bit of a Jobs deja-vu here in that a lot of people I know/communicate with are going to be heralding him whereas my experience with being around and aware of him for the last decade or so has left me less impressed.

posted by Firas 16 December | 06:26

a good writeup from Spencer Ackerman that warms me up to hitch a bit: All Hitch Everything

posted by Firas 16 December | 07:47

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 16 December | 08:26

Charlie Pierce has a nice remembrance of him here.

posted by BoringPostcards 16 December | 10:22

.

I disagreed with him a lot of the time, and agreed with him a lot of the time. Either way, there was much there to respect.

posted by gaspode 16 December | 10:44

And a good write-up from P.Z. Myers:

As atheists, I think none of us can find solace in the cliches or numbness in the delusion of an afterlife. Instead, embrace the fierce strong emotions of anger and sorrow, feel the pain, rage against the darkness, fight back against our mortal enemy Death, and live exuberantly while we can. Confront mortality clear-eyed and pugnacious, uncompromising and aggressive.

It’s what Hitch would have wanted of us.

It’s how Hitch lived.

posted by BoringPostcards 16 December | 11:59

One more link: Christopher Hitchens sings (kinda) Monty Python's "The Philosopher's Drinking Song."

posted by BoringPostcards 16 December | 12:12

I'm an atheist, and I don't see death as an enemy. Not even, as tautological as it may be, a "mortal" one.

Death is the friendly reminder to keep living.

posted by Eideteker 16 December | 12:20

This makes me sad too. I disagreed with him on many things, but loved his brilliant mind, his incisive writing, and his full engagement with the world. We are all poorer without his strong, opinionated and memorable voice.

posted by bearwife 16 December | 12:32

"Death is the friendly reminder to keep living." - Amen to that.

posted by Ardiril 16 December | 12:37

Andrew Sullivan posted a thoughtful obituary. A whole set of reflections that summed up his contribution excellently. I disagreed with his atheism and his politics, but you had to admire his philosophy, his wide knowledge of just about everything, his social commentary and his wit. There are few "personalities" that you can truthfully say this about, but - I will miss him.

posted by Susurration 16 December | 13:48

Nicely put, Eideteer.

posted by Miko 16 December | 23:04

← Photo Friday: Coffee cups/mugs || The Ultimate Web-Based Service. →

HOME || REGISTER || LOGIN