Hitchens was a “firebrand” who was thoughtful and hard to put into any “category”. More than anything, he seemed to view his mission in life to provoke people to think about what they believe and why – which is why I admired him even if I didn’t agree with him.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/sep/09/christopher-hitchens-911-arab-spring
The final paragraph is probably the most important, where he announced a year ago that his doctors gave him about a year to live – and he found it liberating that he didn’t have to worry any more what people think about him or his writing.
He was a smoker and died of cancer of the esophagus. I celebrate that he died from his free will choice to do what others would want use government to stop.
His brilliance was mesmerizing whether or not I could agree with him. What an incredible mind … and yet, with all that brilliance, he chose to smoke.