The Hitch Remembered Everything

In debate, Hitch was lethal?a super-articulate terrorist, fearless, uningratiating, unforgettable, and unforgetting. The facts never failed him. He had total recall. And he usually had something spectacular to throw into the audience.

I stayed with him in Washington when he was married to Eleni Meleagrou. I was reading at the Library of Congress. As Eleni and I were having tea, Christopher came in, fresh from California, reeking of fags and booze. He had been debating with Alexander Cockburn. ?Drink?? I said I never drank before a reading. ?Gosh,? he said and poured himself a big brandy and Campari. For the next two hours, he put it away. Then we went to the Library of Congress. Afterwards we went to several bars. By 1 a.m. I was speechless with drink and Hitch was in spate.

I don?t remember going to bed. I got up at 7 and found my way to the bathroom, wary as a seal, in case my headache exploded. Hitch was in his study, at his desk, a glass of brandy and Campari to hand, a cigarette immolating itself in the ashtray. He was writing a piece.

One night in Oxford, Hitch and I were having supper at James Fenton?s house. Drink had been taken. At 2 a.m. James was asleep at his kitchen table. The historians Norman Stone and Timothy Garton Ash arrived. Things became hilarious. I left at 4:30. Hitch was filming at 6 a.m. The filming went off?with the Hitch, without a hitch.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=82d9f43955a4337309321a1de543de7c

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