The historian Howard Zinn died this week at 87. His _The Peoples' History_ of 1980 altered how many viewed US history, bringing to attention the stories of those who were not the winners of the American dream, the many who suffered, from slaves through Indians, and on and on to many groups. He performed a real service and will be missed.
Howard Zinn struck me as an exceptionally good man.
ReplyDeleteThe LATimes has a piece with comments on Zinn (mostly positive) by several historians. No historian may be perfect but if history were like horseshoes, Zinn was close enough. And he had a sense of humor.
ReplyDeleteZinn was also remarkably responsive. I emailed him a few times last year, and he responded to address my questions.
ReplyDeleteI had hoped to correspond with him about his thoughts on local histories, but that's not possible now.
He will be missed.