i was an editorial grunt .
and unlike certain other washington - based literati , he did n’t spend his professional life hurling thunderbolts from behind the shelter of a see slate ’s full tribute to the life of christopher hitchens .
he was christopher hitchens had become everyone ’s lovable curmudgeon .
june thomas , hitchens ’ editor at slate editing christopher hitchens , who died thursday at the age of 62 , was the easiest job in journalism .
” the relentless comparisons to george orwell made you wince , not because hitchens did n’t deserve the extravagant praise — in many ways , he did — but because comparisons tend to diminish .
in the early 1980s , as a twentysomething trying to start a career as a crusading journalist , i was fortunate enough to share an office with hitchens .
christopher hitchens died on thursday at age 62 .
his weekly e - mails always read the same jaunty way : “ herewith .
he never filed late — in fact , he was usually early , even when he was clearly very sick — and he managed to make his work seem like a great lark .