Christopher Hitchens

1949—2011

Journalist and columnist Christopher Hitchens was born in Portsmouth, England, in 1949 and became an American citizen in 2007. He attended Balliol College, Oxford, where he studied politics, philosophy, and economics. A well-known commentator for radio and television, Hitchens also wrote and reported widely, covering topics both global and domestic. His books include Cyprus (1978); The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice (1995); No One Left to Lie To: The Triangulations of William Jefferson Clinton (1999); Love, Poverty, and War: Journeys and Essays (2004); God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (2007); Hitch-22: A Memoir (2010); Arguably: Essays (2011), winner of the 2012 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay; and Mortality (2012).

Hitchens wrote for New Statesman, the Nation, Slate, and Vanity Fair. He died in 2011.