Christopher Hitchens
Hitchens died of hospital-acquired pneumonia on 15 December 2011 in the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, aged 62. In accordance with his wishes, his body was donated to medical research. "Mortality", a collection of seven of Hitchen's "Vanity Fair" essays about his illness, was published posthumously in September 2012.
Green Springs Ranch, California
One of the victims of the disease was reportedly Nancy Hitchcock, with her nieces also reportedly dying from the disease. It is possible that the nieces mentioned are actually the two young granddaughters mentioned in the census rolls: the 4 year old in 1850 at the ranch and Eliza Trombley. In December 1853, an advertisement had been placed in the newspaper for a Probate sale of her estate to be conducted on January 16, 1854. At this point, the Green Springs Rancho included the Green Springs House and 320 acres, stables, barns and outhouses (Sacramento Daily Union newspaper, December 30, 1854). It has been speculated that Mrs. Hitchcock and her nieces were buried on the ranch. It seems more likely that the young girls were actually Mrs. Hitchcock's granddaughters rather than nieces.