What Hitchens Taught Me...

Dec 18th, 2011
by. F. Grey Parker

Although I find it unlikely I will add much to the discussion of how the late Christopher Hitchens impacted contemporary critical thinking, I am compelled to thank him publicly for a few things.

I initially encountered his work when I was a decidedly more strident leftist. On my 17th birthday, I received my first subscription to The Nation magazine from my grandmother, a gift which was to become an annual tradition for the remainder of her life. The magazine had many great writers at the time. I was particularly hopeful to find some new and eloquently-raked muck by Alexander Cockburn in each issue. But, it was Hitchens' essays which began to impact me more than those of others.