Christopher Hitchens remembered for how clever he was and, by association, how clever his friends are; a homage to ego:

They came to mourn Christopher Hitchens in the Great Hall of New York’s Cooper Union, where Abraham Lincoln gave the speech that launched his campaign for president in 1860.

The hall was filled with family, friends and readers; intimates of 40 years’ standing, and those who knew him only from the printed page and stage appearance; all still wounded by a loss that remains fresh at four months’ distance.

Most of the memorial took the form of readings from Christopher’s own works, occasionally enlivened by editorial comment. The biggest laugh was claimed by the writer, actor and gay-rights exponent, Stephen Fry.

Christopher, he said, had condemned as more trouble than they were worth: champagne, lobster, anal sex and picnics. “Three out of four, Christopher,” said Fry.

Chuck Colson remembered for the positive influence he had on others – a homage to redemption:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called Colson “a fine man whose life proved that there is such a thing as redemption.”

Evangelist Billy Graham acknowledged Colson’s “tremendous ministry reaching into prisons and jails with the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ” for three and a half decades. “When I get to Heaven and see Chuck again, I believe I will also see many, many people there whose lives have been transformed because of the message he shared with them,” Graham said in a statement, adding, “I count it a privilege to have called him friend.”

One Andrew Mullins from Georgia tweeted to testify of Colson’s ministry. “The man changed my life in High School. His prison ministry changed other lives, as well,” he said.