I've read two pages of Christopher Hitchens's work for the first time (Letters to a young contrarian), and he's already my favorite author of all time, with a possible exception of Antoine de Saint Exupery.

He's exactly the type of communicator I strive to be - articulate, eloquent, witty, clever, charismatic, intelligent, courageous, and so on.  I chose the word communicator because he's an equally skilled orator as he is a writer. 

In my English literature classes in school, my teachers would always rave about authors such as John Steinbeck and their beautiful imagery of the Salinas Valley or Walden or something.  But frankly speaking, I found them to be a bore.  I'm not trying to belittle Steinbeck or Thoreau; they're just not to my taste.  I prefer a bit more wit and vigor, with a hint of realism.  That is all. 

In a way, I suppose I admire Hitchens because he's everything that I'm not.  But some day, I'll get there, hopefully.  "Strip away the inessential" - and I'll be as succinct as I can be.