Comments

  1. says

    How lovely. If I could, I’d raise one to Hitch, he had a lot to do with me becoming active in secular causes and becoming more vocal overall.

    Gerardo, have a decaying porcupine.

  2. Chris Ho-Stuart says

    Wow. What a fantastic video. I’d love to watch Christopher Hitchens when he first sees it himself.

  3. vivace says

    I don’t agree with all his political opinions, but he has been a sorely needed voice of reason in the public debate and he has been an important influence on my thoughts about religion. Here’s to you, Hitch!

  4. KP says

    I think I saw something about Hitch having pneumonia this week and cancelling an interview with Stephen Fry.

  5. Ewan Macdonald says

    When Hitch dies before his time, it’s proof there is no god. And that’s just how he’d want it.

  6. says

    Damn it; I teared up in the lab while watching that.

    When the day finally comes when we say goodbye to Hitch (and let that day be a long time away), this video should be posted all over the net.

  7. bric says

    #9 yes it was cancelled, but they did something else instead: http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2011/11/christopher-hitchens-fry-penn

    – ‘It was Amis, now a Brooklyn resident, who appeared last, sagely guiding the audience through old photographs of Hitchens, including the unlikely sight of Hitch, a quintessential urbanite, holding a brace of pheasants on the Rothschild estate. He described his relationship with Hitchens as an “unconsummated gay marriage”, adding that “Christopher, certainly some time ago, would have consummated it very happily”.’

  8. David Utidjian says

    Cheers Hitch! I hope you don’t mind if I my scotch of choice is Lagavulin. Perhaps I will try JW Black again.

    Very nice video.

  9. says

    I haven’t read Hitchens and I certainly haven’t heard him speak, but I do support anybody who’s all for honesty and presenting what we know about how the world works without fear or favor.

  10. says

    G’day Hitch from Down Under, Christchurch, New Zealand.

    It may be fitting that despite its name, this city of quakes and shakes also is home to hundreds, if not thousands, of you readers and fans.

    I am a third generation cultural jew and proud Atheist. I always knew there was something very, very wrong with not only religious belief, but the very need for them. Your writings gave me the foundations, not only to better understand my own beliefs, but the effective manner to deliver them to others.

    You cannot see me doing it, but trust me, I lift my glass as well as my mind, to you.

    Cheers,

    Lee

  11. squidmaster says

    Indeed. I was reading earlier and having a glass of Caol Ila 18 y/o. I think Hitch would like it. Cheers to Hitch. And cheers to the lot of you fuckers, one and all.

  12. Midnight Rambler says

    I wish everyone would stop going on as though he’s already dead.

    I’m glad people are saying it while he’s still around to hear it.

  13. screechy monkey says

    If the people in this video were the only ones whose lives Hitch has touched, that alone would make it a life well worth living.

    And a preemptive thank-you to Pharyngulites for dispensing with the seemingly-obligatory “but I disagree with him on Iraq” disclaimers. In case you show up in subsequent comments: yes, we know. This is a man whose life is devoted to the exploration and airing of ideas; if Hitch is reading this, he’d be more appalled than anyone at someone who said “I totally agree with everything Hitch has ever said.”

  14. Atticus Dogsbody says

    @screechy monkey: Are you saying that I should ignore his neo-colonial, orientalist bullshit just because he’s an atheist?

  15. says

    Atticus Dogsbody:

    Are you saying that I should ignore his neo-colonial, orientalist bullshit just because he’s an atheist?

    No one said you have to ignore anything. This is a thread about people saying Thanks, Hitch because he has touched people’s lives through his being vocal and unafraid to speak out about religion and the harm it causes throughout the world.

    It’s not a thread to complain or whinge. If you don’t want to raise a glass, don’t. Pretty simple, really.

  16. Alex, Tyrant of Skepsis says

    Cheers, Hitch!

    @Atticus Dogsbody

    You can scream about it as long as you want all day long lest your valuable insight goes unheard, just, maybe, not in this dedication thread.

  17. Derdesh says

    Lovely and wonderful. I like it so much I’ll record my own salute to Hitch, once I figure out how to do that youtube thing and find an appropriate toast. (Johnny Walker Black? I that the accepted essence? Please correct me if I am mistaken!)

    It has the Tom Sawyer appeal of attending one’s own funeral — but Christopher Hitchens, confronting his own imminent demise, deserves to know how his life has changed the world. For the better.
    What about our own tentacled overlord? Should (FSM forbid) PZ pass away what would we all remember him for?

  18. Michael Zeora says

    When I heard of Hitch’s bout of cancer; and after the first bit tribute video; I raised a glass of JWB then, and likewise I do so again.

    To you, Comrade Hitch – for the great many fires in the minds of those you’ve sparked from the intense inferno that is your own intellect.

    @#29 – JWB is not the required spirit; but in the fact that it is his favourite, it seems to be the most appropriate of the great list, but then again your the one who should drink it so choose a favourite of yours.

    Should our Tentacled Overlord fall – Well I suppose in FSM way we’d celebrate with a bowl of rAmen. Or piss of a lot of Catholics by killing a special holy cracker.

  19. CJ says

    “He disagreed with me on Iraq! WAH WAH WAH”

    Hitchens will never cease being able to reduce crybabies to non-sequiturs.

    I hope he keeps it up for as long as possible.

  20. says

    Here is to a most sublime a orator, a splendid debater, an truly admirable thinker, and quite possibly the best writer to ever draw breath. Here’s to Christopher Hitchens, the sage of our time.

    Because a man of his intellectual caliber might never again set foot on this earth.

    Cheers!

    What this an feel the man for yourself:

    http://youtu.be/lgIcJb8i4m8

  21. greame says

    I raise an imaginary glass of JWB as well (it’s not even noon here). His no nonsense writing, debates, speeches and interviews were a big part of why I am so vocal on these subjects now.

    There’s nothing like a good Hitchslap to brighten my mood!

  22. greame says

    (Apologies in advance. I mean no association to the rhyming original phrase to Hitchslap, as I know that word does not bode well around here. But I still think Hitchslap is a great way to describe Cristopher’s frequent verbal smack down on idiots.)

  23. says

    I believe that Christopher Hitchens has seen this as it was posted on his Facebook account recently. His God is Not Great was a pleasure, a delight, and a revelation all the way through. To Hitch! [raises virtual glass of e-booze]

  24. Quincyme says

    Hitch. He is. Nuff said.

    Damn.

    Sat, staring at my screen. Really hard to think at this point.

  25. Raiki says

    I somehow doubt that plum wine lends the same gravitas to the situation as Hitch’s favorite JWB, but it’s all I’ve got, so it’ll have to do.

    Cheers, Hitch. Thank you for being a beacon of reason in a world full of willful ignorance. May you shine your light of truth across our dark shores for many years to come.

  26. Julia_L says

    I have greatly enjoyed watching C. Hitchens debate. He resembles a great swordsman gently pricking his opponent once, twice, a dozen times. It would not be kind to revel in the slow, awkward bleeding demise of his inept challengers if they weren’t repulsive, slimy, toxic arthropods with too many legs and no tentacles.
    I personally hoist a few in hopes of his immediate return to good health.

  27. says

    I was featured at about 4 minutes. I am SO pleased they added mine. I have always wanted to say “thank you” to Chris, and this was my opportunity for him to hear me say it!