(Just one of hundreds of stories to hit the wires:)
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, died Thursday "from pneumonia, a complication of esophageal cancer," according to Vanity Fair, the magazine for which Mr. Hitchens worked. He was 62.
Mr. Hitchens, an English-born writer who had lived in Washington since 1982, was a tireless master of the persuasive essay, which he wrote with an indefatigable energy and venomous glee. He often wrote about the masters of English literature, but he was better known for his lifelong engagement with politics, with subtly nuanced views that did not fit comfortably with the conventional right or left. ...
More (w/photo & additional links):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/christopher-hitchens-a-vanity-fair-writer-was-a-religious-skeptic-and-acerbic-master-of-the-contrarian-essay/2010/12/17/gIQAtiBHxO_story.html
Blog, a searchable database of obituaries
back to 2001:
http://DeadCelebrityAlert.com
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