Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Ah shit, it's true. RIP HOWARD ZINN, the man who wrote one of the most important books of our time.

Howard Zinn 1922-2010

Howard Zinn, the Boston University historian and political activist who was an early opponent of US involvement in Vietnam and a leading faculty critic of BU president John Silber, died of a heart attack today in Santa Monica, Calif, where he was traveling, his family said. He was 87.
via Boston.com

If you haven't read A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn it's safe to say that you don't know both sides of American history. When I first read this book I thought my eyes were already open. Turns out they needed to be MUCH wider. And this is what Zinn did to me--he opened my eyes wider, every time I read his words or heard him talk I learned more about my country and understood more about how we always need to ask questions and keep pushing to learn more.

If I had one, he would have been at the top of my "people I'd like to meet" list. I don't really do "hero-worship" but if I had to pick someone to call a hero, it'd be him.

RIP Howard Zinn

To say you will be missed is an incredible understatement.

Posted via web from thepete's posterous

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