by a drunk who came up and belligerently doubted he was as smart as he made out, he reacted with his usual courtly manner and calmed the man down. At length it was agreed that he would test Christopher's knowledge of poetry: if Christopher remembered the lines of any poem he chose to name, he would buy us a round of drinks.Well, of course, the man didn't stand a chance.
His first challenge was the short poem by W B Yeats, An Irish Airman Foresees his Death. Christopher slowly plucked the first few lines from the air: "I know that I shall meet my fate/Somewhere among the clouds above/Those that I fight I do not hate/Those that I guard I do not love;" the rest tumbled out.
from The Guardian: Christopher Hitchens: My friend, a man who never lost his taste for intimacy and good conversation
then Slate: Hitchens and I Shared an Office
then 3 Quarks Daily: Remembering the Foolish and Brilliant Christopher Hitchens
then The Guardian: Christopher Hitchens: 'the consummate writer, the brilliant friend'
then The New Yorker: Postscript: Christopher Hitchens, 1949-2011
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