I think Christopher Hitchens is the greatest writer of the last 60 years. He is a brilliant and unique journalist and speaker. I don't think I've ever seen anyone like him. He is smart, well-spoken, funny, charismatic, engaging, passionate, honest, decent, interesting, and knowledgeable. In June he was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer. He may not live much longer. He writes for Vanity Fair, and Slate, and is all over youtube. I will not post a series of links, but if you like you can discover him in these places. "Topic of cancer" (Vanity Fair) is quite a good essay of his, which he wrote shortly after his diagnosis.