A lode-star of candour

His sheer blazing willingness to speak his mind, always and forcefully, has made him a lode-star of candour in a time of double-talk and euphemism. No matter how depressing political developments have got, one has always been able to look forward to what Hitchens will have to say about them.

(From an article about Christopher Hitchens' death: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/deaths/contrarian-writer-christopher-hitchens-dies-at-62/article2273520/)