I don’t think I’ve ever seen Carol Blue, Christopher Hitchens’s wife, speaking about her husband, but she interviewed Charlie Rose on Friday’s “CBS This Morning” about Hitchens’s life and death. I can’t embed the 5.5-minute video, but you can see it here. There’s also a brief clip of Rose’s interview with Hitchens in August 2010, shortly after he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer.
This is sad but also heartening:
Of his final hours, Blue maintains that he knew he was very sick but expected to leave the hospital after “a couple of days.” During his last days, he held court at the hospital, receiving visitors and leading spirited debates about “various subjects,” but Blue firmly told Rose that “God never came up, if anyone is interested … it was a non-subject.”
Hitchens made much of his disbelief in God, refuting critiques from those who said he would “find God” in his final months.
Hitchens would certainly have objected to the banner running across the video, which says “Remembering Chris Hitchens.” I can hear his booming corrective, “Christopher!”
You can see the entire 1.75 hour Hitchens memorial at Cooper Union, featuring many speakers (short talks!) like Blue, Lawrence Krauss, Tom Stoppard, Salman Rushdie, and Sean Penn, at this link.
h/t: Ali
Hitchens book Mortality is such a wise compilation. I only came to know of him in the last four years of his life. I am forlorn that I took so long to notice him. Thankfully his abundant work is there for all to gain much from.
She gave off some complex body language when she answered the question how long were you together–a mix of gratitude and deeply felt loss. Made me weepy.
I can’t remember which interview this was, but after someone called him Chris and he corrected them to say Christopher, I love his follow-up, something like: “If only because it IS my given name.”
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xonqUHiAZ7c?rel=0&w=560&h=315%5D
(an attempt to embed this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xonqUHiAZ7c&feature=player_embedded#! Name issue about 2:10)
He’d promised his mother he would use his full name. There was a class aspect. He didn’t like the way “Chris Hitchens” would become “Chris’itchens” – and he was against circumcision of all kinds.
Finding God towards the very end of one’s life -if it happens at all- should not bring comfort to believers. At this stage one may be weak, confused, frightened, and distracted by pain and discomfort. One may even get delusional. In other words, finding God when one is not of sound mind is not all that surprising. Throughout history I’m sure men in their most tormented moments had lively exchanges with Zeus, Odin, etc. I once did rounds in a Psych unit at VA hospital and I can tell you some of the people with the most unshakeable faith in the Lord are schizophrenics.
He said if he converted, it would be because it would be better for a believer to die than an atheist.
I do hope it isn’t actually quite as much of an ordeal as it appears, being interviewed by Rose. She seems a complex, observant and principled person, brilliant and poised. How lucky he was!
Christopher Hitchens was a true warrior. I am an athiest and don’t spend a lot of time thinking about an imaginary diety. I commend Hitchens for fighting the good fight. I think he chose a beautiful and intelligent wife. He may not reside in Heaven or Hell, but hls ideas live on.