As this April 13th comes to an end, I want to take a moment and say happy Hitchens’ Day to you all.

Words can never express how personally indebted I will always be to Hitch. I didn’t always agree with him, but I was blown away with how he could turn a phrase, and was in continual awe of his near photographic memory.

One of my dearest memories, was being the emcee at the convention where he made his last public speech. I’m sure you’ve all seen it, but here’s the tribute video that was made from it:

I have never publicly uttered the words he and I shared that day, and I won’t do so now. I will just say that it was in line with the theme of his talk:

“I feel very envious of someone who is young and actually starting out in this argument. Just think of the extraordinary things that are happening to us.”

Right before his speech, I remember having a discussion with a colleague who said that Christopher had made peace with the fact that death was at hand, and had therefore quit taking his medication. We knew that the words we were about to hear would possibly be his last. It made the experience all the more precious.

If you haven’t seen the entire speech, here it is:

https://youtu.be/ud973COUVYs

One last thing: I created the picture that appears at the top of this article for a speech I made during the same convention the following year. Partly, I wanted to joke that he was now our “Holy Spirit,” but also, because I knew he would have hated the comparison. Not simply because of the religious connotation, but because he despised any type of hero worship. He was very quick to correct anyone who said they were a fan of his. He would point out that the word “fan” implies “fanaticism,” and would say that he didn’t want fans, he wanted readers.

Thank you sir.

Brother Richard

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