I heard with great sadness that Christopher Hitchens had died last week. He was quite a topic of conversation at our Seasonal Party. We are still debating the reasons for having this party, but we are not debating whether or not we should have a seasonal party – it’s that good of an idea.
The reactions of attendees ranged from knowledgeable comments about his work and life to “who’s Christopher Hitchens?”. Any human who is not familiar with Mr. Hitchens’ work is experiencing a lack that the Rationalist Society must work to remedy. We’ll do a meeting in January to more fully acquaint ourselves with the reasons why this man’s work is so important. His work survives him, and will continue to live for a very long time. His works won’t provide actual immortality, but this is as well as an atheist is going to do. His book “God Is Not Great” is unmatched in its arguments against the hypocrisy of religion, IMO.
I spoke to Mr. Hitchens twice, and both times he was gracious and friendly. Considering how acerbic his wit could be, that was a relief. I ran into him in a hotel hallway in Madison Wisconsin, during a FFRF convention some years ago, and was overwhelmed by my good fortune. I got to stand next to a celebrity and hero, and there was nobody else but Hitch and me in front of that elevator. Hallelujah! I tried to be cool, and offered him some of my popcorn, which he politely declined. I think I thanked him for his work, while I was careful not to gush or talk too much; and I think he spoke a few sentences. I got to ride in the same elevator as him! He didn’t even look annoyed with me, which I appreciated tremendously. It seems Mr. Hitchens was a nice guy, as well as a towering intellect; those traits don’t always travel together, so to speak.
If you’re interested in obituaries, please see Richard Dawkins’ site, which has done a very fine job of aggregating obits : http://richarddawkins.net/articles/644246-christopher-hitchens-obituaries
Also, you might check out this short video that I found on the Guardian’s website of Mr. Hitchens speaking about the afterlife : http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/16/christopher-hitchens-debate-highlights-video
“Hallelujah!” – I lol’d!
Well done for keeping it together in the lift, I would have exploded with excitement! haha