Charles Krauthammer told The Washington Post yesterday that his cancer is not going to be completely removed or beaten into submission. “It is aggressive and spreading rapidly,” he said. “My doctors tell me their best estimate is that I have only a few weeks left to live. This is the final verdict. My fight is over.”
Many readers, friends, and colleagues began sharing the news and chatting of memories.
The news that Charles Krauthammer’s condition is terminal is heartbreaking. Beyond the brilliance of his analysis and the paralysis he so remarkably overcame, there is his extraordinary personal grace and kindness. I have missed him very much. I always will
— Brit Hume (@brithume) June 8, 2018
Brit Hume (@brithume) said, “The news that Charles Krauthammer’s condition is terminal is heartbreaking. Beyond the brilliance of his analysis and the paralysis he so remarkably overcame, there is his extraordinary personal grace and kindness. I have missed him very much. I always will.”
Hume also spoke on radio about his friend. “I told him I would keep praying for him. Although I knew he’s not a believer, I am, and that the God that I worship would unquestionably want him in his presence, because anyone who had the chance would. I don’t think there’s anyone alive that I admire more than I admire Charles.”
Charles @Krauthammer is a dear friend -his voice has been sorely missed in our daily discussions of the world. While this news is so so sad- I’m happy that we heard it from him with time to show him how many people love him and how he changed the world w/ his thoughts & words
— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) June 8, 2018
Bret Baier (@BretBaier) tweeted, “Charles @Krauthammer is a dear friend -his voice has been sorely missed in our daily discussions of the world. While this news is so so sad- I’m happy that we heard it from him with time to show him how many people love him and how he changed the world w/ his thoughts & words.”
He also recommended this 42-minute special report that he and others assembled in 2013.
To honor the life of @krauthammer, read “Marcel, My Brother.” https://t.co/TSLEb4c5wJ
— Bill Hemmer (@BillHemmer) June 8, 2018
Bill Hemmer (@BillHemmer) wrote, To honor the life of @krauthammer, read “Marcel, My Brother.” https://t.co/TSLEb4c5wJ
Krauthammer won the Pulitzer Prize in 1987 “for his witty and insightful columns on national issues.” This personal column was written in January 2006 and is also the first one printed in his essay collection from 2013, Things That Matter. In it, he writes, “Whenever I look at that picture [of he and Marcel], I know what we were thinking at the moment it was taken: It will forever be thus. Ever brothers. Ever young. Ever summer.”
Of course, we do not live in a delusional youth. Summer turns to autumn and soon the ice creeps over everything on this side of the veil. God raises up many stewards to work out his purposes in the world, both believers and non-believers. More like Krauthammer would be good, though let’s join Hume in praying for the gift of faith for everyone.
Dr. Krauthammer passed away yesterday, June 21, 2018. Mollie Hemingway tweeted this about him: https://twitter.com/MZHemingway/status/1009942342835589120
“Absolutely hilarious. Extremely charming. Kind but not in a fake way. In fact, he could be deliciously cutting against those he held in low regard. Generous with advice, which is not nothing for younger journalists and pundits.”
“I consider it a great honor that I got to know him, much less become friends with such a great man. I’m honored to even have had a chance to discuss him and what he meant to me on tonight’s @SpecialReport. And I’m simply not ready for life without him.”
Nash Jenkins of Time Magazine shared a moving story about his dad meeting Dr. Krauthammer a couple years ago and then the following summer suffering a spinal injury similar to his. https://twitter.com/pnashjenkins/status/1009926833339592704
Krauthammer wrote him a letter to offer a bit of perspective on his future. Jenkins said, “There is no playbook for coping with spinal cord injuries. They’re statistically rare. Support networks are limited at best. But in a year that has been defined by uncertainty and emotional exhaustion, that letter has meant the world to my dad and to us.”