teresa evans was tim's fiancee. on july 31st, 2015 she came to his house and smelled something coming from the garage. >> he was sitting in this chair. and the chair was all the way reclined for some reason. it was all the way back. my first thought was just okay, open the garage door.then i went around and opened all the car doors to get the monoxide out. >> was the car filled with -- >> it was horrible in here. i called 911 after that. the best thing i thought was to get the carbon monoxide out. it was just a matter of seconds. he was still breathing. i was like tim tim tim tim, oh my god tim, and he's going like this, he's not breathing okay. i hear the fire trucks coming i think he's going to be all right because he's still breathing. >> tim was 57 years old. they had been dating for six years. >> there's us on our first anniversary. >> he proposed to teresa a week before he killed killed himself. >> i'll never forget the sight of them tearing him out of that car and laying him on the grass. it looked like he wa

teresa moment. he would then start talking about atheism and -- >> evan: and infuriate the very people who thought they found a kindred spirit. >> thomas: so he remained very much himself in other political respects. >> evan: right. but of course he comes across as the other characters you've invented in this book come across. he comes across as quite real. >> thomas: i hope so. >> evan: yeah. >> thomas: and he -- i mean, there are even a couple of lines that, you know, i remember him saying in life, expressions he had -- >> evan: yep. >> thomas: -- that i wound up having him deploy, you know, in the course of this novel. he was tremendously witty and a fierce debater. and because he was so good at debate -- i remember when he debated a rabbi one time about the existence of god. and the rabbi said to him, "and mr. hitchens, i didn't interrupt you". and hitchens turns to him and says, "you're not quick enough". [laughter]. >> thomas: but because he was so good at that, i think that one thing a lot of people did not know about him was how gentle he could be. >> evan: yeah. >> thomas: christopher was a lo