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.
Mortality (book)
Hitchens held the post of contributing editor at "Vanity Fair" from November 1992 until his death. In this capacity he contributed about 10 essays per year on subjects as diverse as politics and the limits of self-improvement, writing about "anything except sports". Therefore, he felt obliged when he was asked to write about his illness for the magazine, and managed to dispatch seven essays from "Tumourville" before he was overcome by his illness on 15 December 2011, aged 62. The essays take as their subject matter his fear of losing the ability to write, the torture of chemotherapy, an analysis of Nietzsche's proclamation that "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger," the joy of conversation and the very meaning of life.