Christopher Hitchens Diagnosed with Cancer, Cancels Book Tour

From: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/07/01/christopher-hitchens-diagnosed-with-cancer-cancels-book-tour/

David Sessions
Reporter

Author and journalist Christopher Hitchens said Wednesday that he is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer of the esophagus and has canceled the remainder of his tour in support of his new memoir, Hitch-22. Hitchens broke the news in a brief statement on the website of Vanity Fair, where he is a columnist."I have been advised by my physician that I must undergo a course of chemotherapy on my esophagus," Hitchens wrote. "This advice seems persuasive to me. I regret having had to cancel so many engagements at such short notice."Esophageal cancer is often caused by alcohol and tobacco consumption. A 2003 article in the New England Journal of Medicine called it "one of the least studied and deadliest cancers worldwide."Hitchens, 61, is famous for his heavy smoking and drinking, though he gave up cigarettes in 2008. In 2003, Hitchens wrote in Vanity Fair that his daily alcohol intake was enough "to kill or stun the average mule." In Hitch-22, published in June 2010, he wrote that he had moderated his alcohol consumption significantly. "There was a time when I could reckon to outperform all but the most hardened imbibers, but I now drink relatively carefully," he wrote. On C-SPAN earlier this year, he said he finds alcohol "a better servant than a master."Hitchens immigrated to the United States from the U.K. in 1981, and has since become a familiar character in the Washington social scene. He became an American citizen in 2007, saying that after 9/11 he began to feel he was "cheating on his dues" by living in the United States without becoming a citizen. "At that point, the U.S. began to be subject to a fantastic campaign of slander and defamation, and I began to feel really protective. This is my country you're talking about."The news of Hitchens' cancer elicited a sympathetic response from some Christians, with whom he has had an antagonistic relationship since the publication of his 2007 polemic, God is Not Great, which attacked the world's major religions and advocated atheism. "I know he doesn't want me to, and I know he thinks it is useless but, Christopher Hitchens, I am praying for you," Pat Archibald wrote on the website of the National Catholic Register.

Blogger Comment:
God is great Mr. Hitchens. We need him in our illness as well as we cross from this life to the next life. We are to God and to God we shall return. The world problems are not religion but people who are abusing religion. God told us in the srcipture that they will be wars and calamities. This life is not the ultimate happiness but the after life. He promised us that in heaven will not have our envy and animosity that we have here. Return to God and read faithfully the Quran no audience or media should make your target but a sincere dialogue with God. Read the dialogue and you will understand God well.

We all need humility we all need God. Be one of us be one of those who says God is great. When you will find out in his dialogue that he accepts anyone even those who denied him or did not value him you will realize that he is great.

Read the Quran sincerely and be one of us and ask God to help you during this time and accept you in his heaven. God is great and do not walk away from him that is my best pray is to be a Muslim and enjoy God greatness. I had my doubts at times of my life however the Quran is overwhelming read it sincerely like I did myself. Read sincerely in Blog and God will lead you to the light of truth. Finally my best wishes with your treatment and to gain back your health fully.