You’re quite welcome. Hitchens is a hell of a smart guy and very interesting to watch, read or listen to. Pretty damn funny too, when he’s in the mood - which fortunately is often.
More than anyone else I can think of who holds beliefs largely contrary to mine, he makes me stop and think. More than once I’ve found myself having to stop and reconsider my own opinion based upon something he’d said or because of a perspective he offered that I hadn’t thought of.
I’ve spent quite a bit of time the last few days watching some of Hitchens’ interviews and debates and speeches on Youtube and now I find myself hoping more than ever that he pulls through. His is a unique and challenging intelligence that I find stimulating and, occasionally, pursuasive, and in my opinion the world really would be a poorer place without him in it.