HOUSTON, DEC 16 (AP/UNB) - Christopher Hitchens, the author, essayist and pundit, has died after a lengthy, public battle with cancer. He was 62.
Hitchens death was announced in a statement from Conde Nast, publisher of Vanity Fair magazine. The statement says he died Thursday night at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston of pneumonia, a complication of his esophageal cancer
Known for his militant humanism and independence, Hitchens had announced in June 2010 he was being treated for cancer of the esophagus. He was a prolific writer known for his essays in Vanity Fair and Slate and for his best-selling manifesto for atheists, "God is Not Great."
He believed in pluralism and racial justice and freedom of speech, big cities and fine art.