Gore Vidal was an influential figure in the life of Christopher Hitchens, the writer, broadcaster and polemicist who died in December 2011. Hitchens once wrote about how Gore Vidal had advised him never to miss a chance either to have sex or to appear on television: ‘My efforts to live up to this maxim have mainly resulted in my passing many unglamorous hours on off-peak cable TV.’
Yet tribute from Vidal was also mockingly included among the encomiums printed on the hardcover of Christopher Hitchens' memoir, Hitch-22 - ‘I have been asked whether I wish to nominate a successor, an inheritor, a dauphin or delfino. I have decided to name Christopher Hitchens.' The quotation is scored out with a handwritten note beside it. ‘No. CH’.'
During an interview with the Telegraph's Mick Brown, Christopher Hitchens revealingly recalled the souring of his relationship with Vidal. 'He was a very important friend to me from slightly before I arrived in the United States. He was extraordinary in his range of literary discussion and polemic, and very good company. He was slightly unreliable; you never really knew whether he'd be in a good mood or not - chancey in that way, selfish, but forgiveable for all that. And pretty lethal in bursting certain kinds of balloons.
The thing that most impressed me when I was young was an essay called The Holy Family, which was the first time I’d ever seen anyone say what needed to be said about the Kennedy gang. I’ve always regarded it as a test of character to dislike the Kennedys. I don't really respect anyone who falls for Camelot.
Then he wrote to me out of the blue, 15 years ago, saying he’d like to nominate me as his successor, his delfino as he put it. Quite unsolicited. I kept the letter. What his letter said was, ‘I’m often asked if I would nominate a successor...’
But I always knew, as one had to know - and it was in his writing too - that he had this mean streak in him, of a kind of paranoia - a conspiracy-based paranoid view of the world, and particularly of American history, which leads to isolationism and what I call Lindberg-ism, because he was a great admirer of [Charles] Lindberg, because this stuff is indissoluble from a very tiny stain of Judaeo-phobia which he could never dispel. He had it in under control - but it's quite hard to keep it under control.
And I remember worrying, in the Nineties, that as he got older that he would start to say and do things that would mean his old age would start to shame the mature years of his youth - and he started to do it.
The last of his historical novel series - Washington - is a straightforward conspiracist's account about Pearl Harbour; very well informed - but mad. Then he started to apply it to 9/11. And that was curtains. And bad. A complete sacrifice of any accuity or wit. Just awful.
I made it clear to him that I didn't agree. We avoided having an open breach. But the last time [I saw] him he was obviously through with me. He was asked at some public event in New York whether he regretted making me his delfino, and he said perhaps he should withdraw it. And I was thinking, well perhaps I should do the same thing.'
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