He actually died last December, but somebody put together a public  memorial for him last week. Hitchens was the kind of public intellectual that only France is supposed to have and I will miss reading him and thinking Well that’s crazy, well, maybe only sort of half crazy.   He was an atheist but wanted to be know as an antitheist because he didn’t want there to be a god. Apparently, the memorial was crawling with other British ex-pats and one of them, Stephen Fry, said “Hitch thought the four most overrated things in the world were champagne, lobster, anal sex and picnics.”

That list appeals to me and I have thought about it – off and on – all week. I can’t think of a better list or anything I would take out – although I would add Lever House – it is just so out of left field and so true.