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Why did so many "experts" declare the Oslo attacks to be the work of Islamic terrorists? By Christopher Hitchens "Having h...
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PZ Meyers response to the Hitchens Watch post 'Hitchens Collaborating In Religious Indoctrination?' "There is a site called C...
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"In whatever kind of 'race' life may be, I have very abruptly become a finalist". Christopher speaks out on his cancer i... -
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Bertrand Russell
Leon Trotsky
Rosa Luxemburg
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4 comments:
Wonderfully fluent and heartfelt words from Simon Schama. Thankyou.
These news items all state that Mr Hitchens was killed by cancer. That doesn't seem accurate to me. From what I know he was killed by an infection, which his body couldn't resist because his immune system had been decimated by chemotherapy - which is to say that his cause of death was iatrogenic - the treatment killed him, not the disease.
Christopher Hitchens was killed by chemotherapy and pneumonia, or some combination of opportunistic ptathogens, not cancer.
Not that it matters, but I happen to have incurable tongue cancer, so I'm probably somewhat familiar with the treatment regimen Mr Hitchens endured before his passing, so please understand I'm not trying to belittle his struggle or dignity. Quite on the contrary, the bravery he showed in the face of his deteriorating health is of a piece with the rest of his life. It's heartening to see people like Schama affirm the value of his commitment to truth, the basic integrity he held that deserves respect also from those like myself who often disagreed with his opinions.
Becky, I understand from what others have written that Mr Hitchens' life was extended by the treatments, although, not to the extent the world had hoped. You describe your cancer as incurable but hopefully it can be healed.
Love the comparison to Hemingway. Two of the most brilliant writers to grace literature. Thank you, Hitch.
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