Christopher Hitchens has announced that he will undergo chemotherapy to treat esophageal cancer. He has suspended his current tour in support of his newly-published memoir Hitch-22. (In fact, we were looking forward to seeing him here in Atlanta in June and were understandably disappointed when his appearance was canceled without explanation.)
Hitchens is notorious for his love of scotch and cigarettes; indeed alcohol and tobacco use are contributing factors to esophageal cancer. Hitch has tried to quit smoking over the last two or three years, but when we saw him at Emory University back in February he was most decidedly smoking.
We don’t know anything more about the specifics of his condition, but cancer of the esophagus is nothing to shrug at: the overall five-year survival rate is only 5%. That said, it’s way too early to give up hope. We won’t be praying for you Hitch, but we will be wishing you a successful treatment and speedy recovery.
