Author Hitchens Has Esophageal Cancer

Cancer claims one-of-a-kind firebrand author

(NEWSER) - Author, intellectual, and firebrand atheist Christopher Hitchens has died at the age of 62 after a long fight with esophageal cancer. The British-born writer, who had lived in Washington DC since 1982, chronicled his illness with the same caustic insight he directed at targets including Bill Clinton, Mother Teresa, and Henry Kissinger, and scoffed at the idea that terminal cancer would change his mind about religion , NPR notes. More»

Still, it's a nice gesture—except those praying for him to go to hell

(NEWSER) - Today is “Everybody Pray for Hitchens Day,” but Christopher Hitchens himself “shall not be participating,” he tells the AP . The well-known atheist, diagnosed with esophageal cancer in June, has already eschewed the idea of a deathbed conversion, but the prayer idea went viral anyway. “I say it's fine by me, I think of it as a nice gesture,” Hitchens says. “And it may well make them feel better, which is a good thing in itself,” even though it doesn’t make him feel better. More»

Critics assail his atheism, pro-war stance, 'random bile'

(NEWSER) - Sure Christopher Hitchens was erudite, bold, and endowed with a stunning memory . But now that he's been dead for two days, the complaints are rolling in ... and they're none-too-pretty:

• "His writing contained provocation aplenty, but far too much of it ... a few hundred words of dashed off substance wrapped around many more hundred words of tired reminiscences, random bile, and frustratingly circuitous filler," writes Kevin Drum in Mother Jones . "The hagiography is getting a little too thick to bear."

Atheist says he's not into deathbed conversions

(NEWSER) - Ever since being diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus, Christopher Hitchens has been hearing it from religious people—from those who are praying for his soul, to those who think the cancer is a punishment sent from God. He scoffs at the latter. “Why not a thunderbolt for yours truly, or something similarly awe-inspiring?” the arch-atheist asks in Vanity Fair . “The vengeful deity has a sadly depleted arsenal if all he can think of is exactly the cancer my age and former ‘lifestyle’ would suggest I got.” More»

Hitchens, two others jumped during junket

(NEWSER) - Three journalists—including columnist and author Christopher Hitchens—were jumped by thugs during a press junket in Beirut, reports Lawrence Osborne in a column for Forbes. Hitchens “rather gallantly insulted the swastika flag” of a “Syria-loving skinhead party called the SSNP” by scrawling an obscenity on it. He got gashed knuckles and bruises in the resulting fight. “I was on the ground and getting it in the head,” Hitchens says. More»