[NYTr] Hitchens to Receive Award at FFRF Convention

[nytr at olm.blythe-systems.com]

Wisconsin State Journal - Jul 22, 2007
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=202397&ntpid=2

Atheist Hitchens will speak in city

By Doug Erickson

Not one to play it safe, the Freedom From Religion Foundation said
Friday it has booked verbal bomb-throwing British-American author
Christopher Hitchens as a keynote speaker for its annual convention
this October in Madison.

A noted atheist who once penned an anti-Mother Teresa diatribe,
Hitchens' book "God Is Not Great," his takedown of religion, holds the
No. 2 spot on The New York Times best-sellers list.

Hard to peg politically, Hitchens has been an enthusiastic supporter of
the Iraq war, yet delighted in the death of the Rev. Jerry Falwell,
calling him an "ugly little charlatan" in a CNN interview.

Hitchens often tosses off his blistering opinions with a cigarette in
one hand and a drink in the other.

"He's terrifically witty and has been just devastating to religion and
his debate opponents at every appearance I've caught," said Annie
Laurie Gaylor, foundation co-president with Dan Barker.

Hitchens is set to speak Oct. 13. Convention attendees will get first
priority for seats, although some tickets may be available to the
general public, Gaylor said. The foundation won't know until closer to
the date, she said.

The convention at the Concourse Hotel runs Oct. 12-14. Updates will be
available at www.ffrf.org.

Gaylor would not say how much Hitchens is being paid. He will receive
an honorarium and the foundation's Emperor Has No Clothes award, given
to public figures who "tell it like it is," Gaylor said.

Barker said Hitchens is controversial even within the foundation's
10,000-plus membership, and that's OK. "We have liberal and
conservative members," he said. "We don't all have to think alike."

Other speakers for the convention include The Nation columnist Katha
Pollitt and former "Saturday Night Live" comedienne Julia Sweeney.