Finding one's voice in the silence

As Christopher Hitchens loses his voice to cancer, he reflects on the connection between the spoken and written word in Vanity Fair:

To my writing classes I used later to open by saying that anybody who could talk could also write. Having cheered them up with this easy-to-grasp ladder, I then replaced it with a huge and loathsome snake: “How many people in this class, would you say, can talk? I mean really talk?” That had its duly woeful effect. I told them to read every composition aloud, preferably to a trusted friend. The rules are much the same: Avoid stock expressions (like the plague, as William Safire used to say) and repetitions. Don’t say that as a boy your grandmother used to read to you, unless at that stage of her life she reallywas a boy, in which case you have probably thrown away a better intro. If something is worth hearing or listening to, it’s very probably worth reading. So, this above all: Find your own voice.

Hitchens isn't always easy to agree with, but his writing - his voice - is one for the ages. Read him now, enjoy his voice now, while he is still with us.