I can forgive the illogical but impassioned arguments for war last winter. I can generally forgive the usual militant contrariness. But I cannot forgive Christopher Hitchens's merciless lambasting of Bob Hope the very week the man dies.

Say I met Christopher in an elevator, casually remarked on the passing of the great entertainer, and heard in response,"Well, I never actually found him that funny." That's fine. Comedy is one of the most subjective parts of entertainment. But to write a thousand word diatribe against a universally beloved entertainer (unlike Bing, Hope has no abuse allegations hanging over his legacy) a handful of days after than man dies is utterly tasteless.

Hitchens calls Hope,"paralyzingly, painfully, hopelessly unfunny." I could not agree less. Surely Hope was not the freshest comedian on the menu after hitting 80 (Hitchens attacks him over a bad joke made in 1984; we'll see if Hitchens is even getting published in 2030). The post-Lenny Bruce stand-up era surely left him by. But in his prime, Hope's timing and delivery were impeccable. Woody Allen, to whom Hitchens unfavorably compares Hope, says:

There are a number a films where's he's allowed to show his brilliant gift of delivery, his brilliant gift of comic speech. He had a very breezy attitude, he was a great man with a quip. Those one-liners and witticisms, they're just like air. He does them so lightly. When someone else tries to do them, they're so leaden. It's hard to counterfeit his work and describe it. At times I even prefer him to Groucho.

You probably can't beat praise from a fellow comedian, but I would have liked to have quoted from Steinbeck's WWII era dispatch about Hope's remarkable resilience and talent which was included in Once There Was a War, but I seem to have misplaced my copy. It, and the volume, a collection of Steinbeck's wartime writings, as a whole, are definitely recommended. Also recommended, for Hope's performance at the very least, are: My Favorite Brunette, Son of Paleface, Fancy Pants, The Lemon Drop Kid, and Monsieur Beaucaire.