On Hitchens

MANN: Tardy thanks for Christopher Hitchens

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/dec/20/tardy-thanks-for-christopher-hitchens/

"Hatred, as he once said, “is a terrific way of getting you out of bed in the morning.” Like many others, I loved him for his hatreds."


"Here was a professor who could teach more than most people could learn. Given his superhuman brainpower, it was always a surprise to rediscover that he was actually human. I remember walking into his apartment one evening and seeing him and his daughter playing a board game called “Cat-Opoly,” a feline version of Monopoly. I was taken aback. Seeing one of the world’s top intellectuals engaging in cat-themed recreation was not what I expected. It was like hearing that Stephen Hawking listens to Britney Spears."


"Hitchens was fond of refreshments. His reputation as a beastly drinker was so stout that people seemed to forget he was a mammal whose thirst could (eventually) be quenched. I am somewhat proud, and somewhat ashamed, to say that I once imbibed enough Johnnie Walker in his presence for him to comment, “If I drank that much scotch, I’d be violent.” To this day, I do not know if he was complimenting or castigating me. (I took it as a compliment.)"