Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Howard Zinn dies of heart attack at 87
by Larry Geller
See this Boston Globe article or try google. I’m sure there will be more on Democracy Now! and elsewhere tomorrow.
"His writings have changed the consciousness of a generation, and helped open new paths to understanding and its crucial meaning for our lives," Noam Chomsky, the left-wing activist and MIT professor, once wrote of Dr. Zinn. "When action has been called for, one could always be confident that he would be on the front lines, an example and trustworthy guide."
For Dr. Zinn, activism was a natural extension of the revisionist brand of history he taught. Dr. Zinn's best-known book, "A People's History of the United States" (1980), had for its heroes not the Founding Fathers -- many of them slaveholders and deeply attached to the status quo, as Dr. Zinn was quick to point out -- but rather the farmers of Shays' Rebellion and the union organizers of the 1930s.
Update: I know many readers don’t click to read the comments, so I wanted to add this one here in the main article:
Bart Dame has left a new comment on your post " Howard Zinn dies of heart attack at 87":
This saddens me. He was a major intellectual influence on my life--though he cannot be held responsible for everything I have done (or not done).
I had the fortune of being his chauffeur when he came to Honolulu about 20 years ago. We swam at Kaimana Beach, floating off Waikiki and talking US history and politics. When I last heard him on Democracy Now a few weeks ago, I was conscious of how frail his once strong voice had become.
About a month ago, I was in whatever they now call Magoo's, eating beer and drinking pizza with a friend. The waitress told us she was majoring in History, so I asked her about Howard Zinn's books. She had never heard of him. She said she is specializing in Classical Greek and Roman history. So I asked her about Izzy Stone's book on Socrates. Michael Parenti's book on the Assassination of Caesar? Again, a blank stare. (Young people today!)
Tonight I will read a chapter of the People's History and savor his deeply humanitarian outlook in memory of a great, gentle man.
This saddens me. He was a major intellectual influence on my life--though he cannot be held responsible for everything I have done (or not done).
I had the fortune of being his chauffeur when he came to Honolulu about 20 years ago. We swam at Kaimana Beach, floating off Waikiki and talking US history and politics. When I last heard him on Democracy Now a few weeks ago, I was conscious of how frail his once strong voice had become.
About a month ago, I was in whatever they now call Magoo's, eating beer and drinking pizza with a friend. The waitress told us she was majoring in History, so I asked her about Howard Zinn's books. She had never heard of him. She said she is specializing in Classical Greek and Roman history. So I asked her about Izzy Stone's book on Socrates. Michael Parenti's book on the Assassination of Caesar? Again, a blank stare. (Young people today!)
Tonight I will read a chapter of the People's History and savor his deeply humanitarian outlook in memory of a great, gentle man.
: January 27, 2010 at 5:08:00 PM HST << Home
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