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Christopher Hitchens: Obituary First Lines

Christopher Hitchens has died at age 62.  The author, critic, and religious skeptic was diagnosed with esophageal cancer last year, shortly after the publication of his memoir Hitch-22. He was being treated for the cancer in Houston when he died yesterday of pneumonia.

Here’s how Christopher Hitchens obituary writers around the globe are leading their stories:

Vanity Fair:

Christopher Hitchens was a wit, a charmer, and a troublemaker, and to those who knew him well, he was a gift from, dare I say it, God. 

The Washington Post:

Christopher Hitchens, a sharp-witted provocateur who used his formidable learning, biting wit and muscular prose style to skewer what he considered high-placed hypocrites, craven lackeys of the right and left, “Islamic fascists” and religious faith of any kind… 

The Independent:

Christopher Hitchens made his name by making enemies.

The Australian:

Christopher Hitchens, the influential author, polemicist, provocateur and committed bon vivant, has died from cancer of the oesophagus.

The New York Times:

Christopher Hitchens, a slashing polemicist in the tradition of Thomas Paine and George Orwell who trained his sights on targets as various as Henry Kissinger, the British monarchy and Mother Teresa, wrote a best-seller attacking religious belief, and dismayed his former comrades on the left by enthusiastically supporting the American-led war in Iraq… 

Cancer weakened, but did not soften Christopher Hitchens. 

His final thoughts on his illness were published earlier this month in Vanity Fair.

See our full biography of Christopher Hitchens »

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