More on Hitchens - "losing our public intellectuals"
Maxminimus hits on something I have sensed recently:
"We are slowly losing our public intellectuals. Or perhaps we are placing them in locales that are lost to me because I be damned if I can find 'em. I used to watch Firing Line with William F. Buckley when I was a kid and I don’t know exactly why because I really couldn’t grasp fully what they were talking about. But I do remember wanting to watch it because I envied this man who seemed to pop-off the most remarkable words in an almost unintelligible, at least for a kid in South Carolina, square jawed accent. He made me want to learn. I wanted to learn those words and I wanted to get better at grasping ideas and developing opinions. Hitchens did the same for me. And if I'm limited to passing on but one trait-habit-proclivity to my child, I'd want it to be the thirst for knowledge and the openness to accept all viewpoints before settling on hers."
The death of Vaclav Havel continues what seems to be a net loss for the world.
Interesting, and it rings true. I too grew up with Firing Line. Later, I thought Michael Kinsley was a very good interlocutor for WFB,Jr. As I said elsewhere, I shall miss Hitchens.
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