Christopher Hitchens

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Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens AKA Christopher Eric Hitchens

Born: 13-Apr-1949
Birthplace: Portsmouth, England
Died: 15-Dec-2011
Location of death: Houston, TX
Cause of death: Pneumonia
Remains: Other (donated to science)

Gender: Male
Religion: Atheist
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Bisexual [1]
Occupation: Journalist

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Agent provocateur

Critic of Mother Teresa, claiming (rightly) that she was more interested in the glorification of God than in helping the poor; Teresa was a friend and supporter of Charles Keating, a man whose money she accepted while overlooking the fact that he obtained it by stealing from the poor. Hitchens also put Henry Kissinger on literary trial in one of his books -- "A good liar must have a good memory: Kissinger is a stupendous liar with a remarkable memory."

Once a figure of the left, on the staff of The Nation, Hitchens later departed that journal and joined Vanity Fair. His critics were unable to grasp the fact that his views actually were consistent; they merely did not fit well into the liberal/conservative labels used in American politics. His politics tended to the libertarian perspective, and he would criticize anyone, anywhere, if he felt the subject deserved it. This was never more apparent than during the media love-fest immediately following the passing of former President Ronald Reagan.

After September 11, Hitchens returned to Pakistan and Afghanistan for Vanity Fair, resulting in his article, On the Frontier of Apocalypse. John Hiler quotes Hitchens, "Osama bin Laden forgot to consult the Talmudic sub-text. Each of the 72 virgins comes with a mother-in-law. His terrorists should have read the fine print."

Diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2010, Hitchens died in December 2011.

[1] Quoted in Geoffrey Levy, "So who WERE the two Tory ministers who had gay flings with Christopher Hitchens at Oxford?", Daily Mail, 6 March 2010: "Every now and then, even though I was by then fixed on the pursuit of young women, a mild and mildly enjoyable relapse would occur and I suppose I can claim this... of two young men who became members of Margaret Thatcher's government."

Father: (British naval officer, WWII)
Mother: Yvonne (d. suicide, in an Athens hotel room)
Brother: Peter Jonathan Hitchens (b. 28-Oct-1951 in Malta)
Girlfriend: Anna Wintour (together one year, 1970s, according to reports)
Wife: Eleni Meleagrou (m. 18-Jun-1981, div., one son, one daughter)
Son: Alexander (b. 1984)
Daughter: Sophia (b. 1989)
Wife: Carol Blue (m. 1991, one daughter)
Daughter: Antonia (b. 1994)

University: Balliol College, Oxford University (1970)
Scholar: University of California at Berkeley

Slate
Harper's Washington Editor
The Spectator U.S. Correspondent
The Nation Washington Correspondent
Newsday Book Critic (1986-92)
Vanity Fair Contributing editor
Atlantic Monthly Books columnist
Corporation for Public Broadcasting Advisory Board, America at a Crossroads
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Fund for Constitutional Government Board of Directors
Hoover Institution Media Fellow (2005)
National Secular Society Honorary Associate
Secular Coalition for America Advisory Board
Secular Student Alliance Academic Advisory Board
Converted to Atheism formerly Anglican (1964)
Naturalized US Citizen 2007
Waterboarded May-2008
Funeral: William F. Buckley (2008)
Asteroid Namesake Hitchens 57901
Jewish Ancestry
Risk Factors: Smoking, Sleep Apnea

FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune (1-Oct-2010) · Himself
Your Mommy Kills Animals (20-Jul-2007)
Manufacturing Dissent (11-Feb-2007) · Himself
American Zeitgeist (16-Jun-2006) · Himself
The Trials of Henry Kissinger (14-Jun-2002) · Himself

Author of books:
Blood, Class, and Nostalgia: Anglo-American Ironies (1990, nonfiction)
The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice (1995, biography)
No One Left to Lie To (1999, nonfiction, on the Clinton Presidency)
The Trial of Henry Kissinger (2001, nonfiction)
Letters to a Young Contrarian (2001, nonfiction)
Why Orwell Matters (2002, nonfiction)
A Long Short War: The Postponed Liberation of Iraq (2003, nonfiction)
Love, Poverty, and War: Journeys and Essays (2004, essays)
God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (2007, nonfiction)
Hitch-22: A Memoir (2010, memoir)
Arguably: Essays (2011, essays)

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