Bloglander

Christopher Hitchens — the writer, debater, curmudgeon and contrarian — died yesterday of pneumonia, the complications of a two-year bout with esophageal cancer.

Hitchens had been an international correspondent for several British publications in the 1970s and, since moving to the United States in the 1980s, a columnist for Vanity Fair and for Slate.com. He was perhaps best-known, of late, for his book God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, which took him on a worldwide tour to debate with religious thinkers.

One of those thinkers was Douglas Wilson, pastor of Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho. Below is the final scene from Collision, a documentary made in 2009 about the duo's unlikely friendship.

Hitchens' acerbic wit and brave contrarianism will be missed. For wrap-ups of some of his greatest work, check out the links above.