Hitch was just about a year older than me, and like me he moved to the USA in 1981. We were both socialists in our youth, and we each spoke out about our atheism in a country and culture which mistrusts and despises non-believers. But it would be silly to stretch the identification further. I loved his writing, particularly his book reviews, even as I was infuriated by his melodramatic politics. I admired his courage and determination to live life to the fullest. I’ll miss him.
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This was a shock, although obviously one knew that his days were numbered. He was five years ahead of me at Oxford (I graduated from Trinity in 1975, he from Balliol in 1970), but I first became aware of him after my move to the USA in 1990 when I saw him on C-SPAN, talking peripherally about The Nation. What I remember most about him, other than his brilliant writing, was his fierce skill as a debater, especially on the subject of religion. He came to the LA Times Festival of Books at UCLA regularly, although not in recent years, and his quickness, erudition and sometimes scathing rhetoric were astonishing to see and hear. I think it’s time to blow the dust off “Letters to a Young Contrarian”, which is a minor masterpiece.
Have a look at my latest blog post on Hitchens : http://cantshutitup.blogspot.com/