Christopher Hitchens is a writer that I enjoy reading, his polemics on religion, politics and culture in general are often witty and satirical and always cut to the bone, they are never dull. He's a colourful character swimming in a sea of corporate-grey, on-script commentators, a plain speaking public intellectual, fiercely intelligent and probably quite intimidating to those who cross-swords with him. I've never met him in the flesh but I get the impression from his books, videos and films that he's the kind of guy who would provide stellar accompaniment for an (uber) night out on the town that would take a month to recover from; certainly someone who would be a candidate guest for one of those hypothetical middle-class dinner parties along with Einstein and Jesus. Many do not agree with his often polarising views on things but few can compete with the almost encyclopaedic knowledge of literature and history that underpins his rhetoric. Unfortunately for "the Hitch" it seems that his penchant for Benson and Hedges and the odd snifter have left him with cancer of the oesophagus, in a recent statement he says,
"I have been advised by my physician that I must undergo a course of chemotherapy on my esophagus. This advice seems persuasive to me. I regret having had to cancel so many engagements at such short notice."
This is awful news, I hope he can recover and continue his curmudgeonly ways for many years to come, best of luck and get well soon Hitch.
3 comments:
And so say all of us.
I'll be praying for him, whether he'd like it or not.
And speaking of dinner guests... a while back I was at a selection panel for a certain company that will be anonymous. We were asked to give the name of somebody from history we'd like to invite to a dinner party. I said Samuel Pepys. The go-getting ex-banker in the group said Richard Branson. I think my reaction to that suggestion may have been one of the reasons I never got that job...
G, I think he would approve of you doing what you wanted to do regardless, or at least your right to do that!
If it were my company the person who said Branson would be frog-marched to the door immediately, mind you, if they hired him then you probably had a narrow escape!
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