Hitch
Christopher and I last saw each other on the first day of this year--he was in California, clearly, although none of us said so, saying goodbye--and we spent the afternoon together. We talked over lunch, and then on and on, until long after sunset, about--well, about everything. History, politics (we disagreed), religion (we disagreed still more), the Sixties, contemporary novelists, the last movie he had seen ("The King's Speech," which he had loved, despite the crude portrayal of Churchill), his experiences at Oxford, in Cuba, in Iraq, in Prague. And about America. Odd though this may seem to say about someone who remained so completely English, but Christopher Hitchens loved this country with the same abandoned, head-over-heels love that I saw in Ronald Reagan.
Christopher's integrity was, as always, on display. One of the physicians who had been most helpful to him in his illness was a devout Christian, and Christopher admitted that this had given him pause. He also mentioned that, although it remained speculative for now, there was some thought that a stem cell therapy might help him. That too gave him pause--more than pause. Sacrificing embryos for his good? "Can't have that, I don't believe, can we?"
Just as I was about to leave, Chesterton somehow came up. His favorite Chesterton poem, Christopher remarked, was "Lepanto," Chesterton's account of the great sea battle of 1571 in which Don Juan of Austria, commanding the Holy League, defeated the Ottoman Empire, saving the West. No sooner did he mention the poem than Christopher began to recite the second stanza:
Dim drums throbbing, in the hills half heard,
Where only on a nameless throne a crownless prince has stirred,
Where, risen from a doubtful seat and half attainted stall,
The last knight of Europe takes weapons from the wall,
The last and lingering troubadour to whom the bird has sung,
That once went singing southward when all the world was young.
In that enormous silence, tiny and unafraid,
Comes up along a winding road the noise of the Crusade.
Strong gongs groaning as the guns boom far,
Don John of Austria is going to the war,
Stiff flags straining in the night-blasts cold
In the gloom black-purple, in the glint old-gold,
Torchlight crimson on the copper kettle-drums,
Then the tuckets, then the trumpets, then the cannon, and he comes.
Don John laughing in the brave beard curled,
Spurning of his stirrups like the thrones of all the world,
Holding his head up for a flag of all the free.
Love-light of Spain--hurrah!
Death-light of Africa!
Don John of Austria
Is riding to the sea.
I repeat my side of our old argument, insisting that what Christoper experienced today was not, as he insisted it would be, extinction--and that, just as I told him he would--told him as he shook his head in amused disbelief--he has now had a happy if temporarily embarrassing surprise, finding himself in the presence of the only Being with the capacity to love him even more than did his friends. I repeat my side--but never--never--have I so regretted having the last word.
Christopher Hitchens, knight and troubadour, who so thoroughly enjoyed going to the war, and who held his head up for a flag of all the free. Requiescat in pace.
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Comments:
Jul '11
Re: Hitch
He was quite the man. Bless you Peter for sharing your remembrance with us.
Jan '11
Re: Hitch
Beautifully expressed, Peter. Thank you.
Sep '10
Re: Hitch
“ The chief plenary indulgence, which is within reach of everybody, and can be gained without the ordinary conditions, is that of charity--which ‘covers a multitude of sins.’ ”
~ St. Therese of Lisieux ~
Thank you, Peter.
Re: Hitch
Lovely, Peter. And what a treat to see him again, with you and WFB.
Re: Hitch
Yours lovely too, Rob--and you're right. He was that kind of writer.
Although we'd all known for well over a year now that this moment was coming, it hurts.
Jun '10
Re: Hitch
I'll pray for him. If I'm right, it'll help him now, and if he's right, it can't possibly bother him.
Re: Hitch
Peter Robinson
Yours lovely too, Rob--and you're right. He was that kind of writer.
Although we'd all known for well over a year now that this moment was coming, it hurts. · Dec 15 at 10:11pm
I know. Why is that? I think it's because we say we "know" a moment is coming, and we mentally prepare for it, all the while thinking, deep down, that we're warding it off. Like carrying an umbrella to hold off the rain.
Sep '10
Re: Hitch
Rob Long
Peter Robinson
Yours lovely too, Rob--and you're right. He was that kind of writer.
Although we'd all known for well over a year now that this moment was coming, it hurts. · Dec 15 at 10:11pm
I know. Why is that? I think it's because we say we "know" a moment is coming, and we mentally prepare for it, all the while thinking, deep down, that we're warding it off. Like carrying an umbrella to hold off the rain. · Dec 15 at 10:29pm
I think CS Lewis said it best: "You have never met a mortal soul."
Re: Hitch
Rob Long
Peter Robinson
Yours lovely too, Rob--and you're right. He was that kind of writer.
Although we'd all known for well over a year now that this moment was coming, it hurts. · Dec 15 at 10:11pm
I know. Why is that? I think it's because we say we "know" a moment is coming, and we mentally prepare for it, all the while thinking, deep down, that we're warding it off. Like carrying an umbrella to hold off the rain. · Dec 15 at 10:29pm
Yes. Why should that be? All our lives, we know only one fact for certain about ourselves and everyone around us: we too shall die. And then someone dies--and it's a shock. Somewhere, I think, C. S. Lewis wrote about this, arguing that the sheer surprise that always, at some level, accompanies death indicates that we were never intended for it, that death, not life, represents the disorder or aberration in creation. Ah, but here I go, starting an argument with Hitch.
Apr '11
Re: Hitch
As one who grew up in the midst of the Iraq war, I remembered hearing Hitch's name quite often, and because of that I started reading Hitch - including his autobiography -nine months ago. Thank you Peter and Rob for a fond remembrance. Christopher Buckley wrote that Hitch is "the greatest living essayist in the English language." That this is no longer true is a very sad day indeed.
Edited on December 16, 2011 at 8:34amRe: Hitch
Do--do pray for him. I told him I was. Although he insisted it couldn't do any good, he also insisted he had no objection.
And while you're at it, remember his wife and daughter--and his children by his first marriage, too.
Jun '10
Re: Hitch
Pseudodionysius
I think CS Lewis said it best: "You have never met a mortal soul."
What a thing to ponder! Thanks, Pseudo.
Apr '11
Re: Hitch
Alternatively, you may both be wrong. (Intended charitably, not snippily.)
Jun '10
Re: Hitch
I remember being startled in one of the first interviews that Hitchens did on CSPAN that when asked if his father was still living, Hitchens said, "Alas, No." This response seemed heartfelt and sincere -- so, you must realize that I was all queued up for a doctrinaire leftist and these people always hated their father ever since they were told that this was one of the rules. Certainly, if you do love your father it is a subject that is best avoided in order to maintain any credibility in the hive.
I liked his word phrasing and rehearsed emphasis at discontinuities in the conversation. He always spoke over the interviewer -- now, why was this exactly? His mind's tempo was often out of step it seems. But, while you were disconcerted, you really had to pay attention to see what dagger he just thrust in below the armpit. And then another interruption as soon as his mind queued up the next item. Hitchens' mind was made for list-building -- but the list was subtly cross-referenced: each item called up one at a time from the previous one and carefully calibrated for the target and the venue.
Dec '10
Re: Hitch
Remember the trip he and others made to Lebanon a few years back, where he got into a fight with some fascists?
He will be missed.
Re: Hitch
Of all the atheists who pass on, I imagine him having the least trouble talking his way through St. Peter's gate. If only God would publish the transcript of the exchange.
A nun once told me the Lord loves the passionate as much as the devout. Hitch is surely in paradise now.
So sorry for the loss of your friend Peter.
Sep '10
Re: Hitch
Did you take this picture, Peter? It is absolutely one of the best I've ever seen. He seems to be actually smiling rather than posing. ... I am so glad I went to DC in February 2006 on the spur of the moment, yes in solidarity with the Danes but also to see him. He made the case for regime change in Iraq so perfectly, it seemed to me. ... He also enraged me with his condescension toward the Tea Party (Jefferson would have approved! Why can't you see this?? I'd silently yell at my computer screen), and I felt it was because, though he loved America, one foot was stuck back in the Old World and that this kept him from completely crossing over to the new, where the individual became the model to live by, not the collective. I envy your friendship with him, Peter, and I so appreciate you sharing it with us.
May '10
Re: Hitch
Christopher Hitchens loved this country with the same abandoned, head-over-heels love that I saw in Ronald Reagan.
Toward the end of Hitch 22 he recounts the funeral of a Marine who'd been inspired to fight by his writing. It's a tear-jerker and as emotional a defense of "America in the world" as you'll find.
What a life, and what a drag that life is so short.
Apr '11
Re: Hitch
Let us also not forget that he died on the same day the Iraq War officially ended. The people of Kurdistan, and Mr. Talabani, knew him well. At a time when forgetting that the Kurds even existed had become so fashionable, Hitchens never once faltered in arguing for their rights to basic human dignity. RIP
Oct '10
Re: Hitch
I'm sorry to hear that your friend died, Peter and Rob. He struck me as man of good humor and sharp intellect and I always looked forward to reading what he had to say about the events of the day even if I didn't agree with his atheism.