Christopher Hitchens in the Forward 50
Image by Getty Images
By Ezra Glinter December 19, 2011
Journalist, critic, pundit and all-around provocateur Christopher Hitchens died December 15 at the age of 62. The outpouring of appreciation (and criticism) has been immense, including this piece in the Forward by Shmuley Boteach. But the Forward recognized Hitchens long before his death for his considerable — and considerably polarizing — gifts. In 2002, Hitchens was included in the Forward 50, our annual list of the most important and influential contributors to the American Jewish story. It was an interesting time in Hitchens’s career, coming shortly after 9/11, when he was making a break with many of his colleagues on the left. Our write-up at the time read:
As Washington journalism’s left-wing curmudgeon-in-residence, the British-born Christopher Hitchens, 53, is best known for his savaging of popular icons from Bill Clinton (“invertebrate”) and Henry Kissinger (“war criminal”) to Mother Teresa (“reactionary,” “obscurantist”). During the last year, though, he’s undergone a metamorphosis, emerging as what some call a moral beacon. He’s repeatedly berated his fellow leftists for tolerating “Islamo-fascism.” In September he publicly quit his 20-year perch as a columnist in The Nation, saying the left-wing weekly was becoming “the echo chamber of those who truly believe that John Ashcroft is a greater menace than Osama bin Laden.” What’s bugging him? Most observers say it’s a reaction to the September 11 attacks. A few critics see a longing for greater gravitas, pointedly reflected in his hagiographic new book about his avowed role model, “Why Orwell Matters” (Basic Books 2002). Perhaps most revealing, though, was his September essay in Vanity Fair, “Jewish Power, Jewish Peril,” an alarmed look at the worldwide state of threats to Jews — a group that, as he repeatedly notes, includes himself. Hitchens has made occasional reference in public to his 1988 discovery that his late mother was Jewish, making him “a wretchedly heretic and bastard member of the tribe.” His journey during the last year suggests, he acknowledged to the Foward, that the discovery and its implications have now seeped deep into his consciousness.
Rest in peace, Hitch, wherever you are.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
