Howard Zinn, dissident historian, dead at 87

By The Associated Press
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 -- 9:49 pm
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howardzinn Howard Zinn, dissident historian, dead at 87Howard Zinn, an author, teacher and political activist whose book “A People’s History of the United States” became a million-selling leftist alternative to mainstream texts, died Wednesday in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 87 and lived in Auburndale, Mass.

The cause was a heart attack, his daughter Myla Kabat-Zinn said.

Published in 1980 with little promotion and a first printing of 5,000, “A People’s History” was, fittingly, a people’s best-seller, attracting a wide audience through word of mouth and reaching 1 million sales in 2003. Although Professor Zinn was writing for a general readership, his book was taught in high schools and colleges throughout the country, and numerous companion editions were published, including “Voices of a People’s History,” a volume for young people and a graphic novel.

“A People’s History” told an openly left-wing story. Professor Zinn accused Christopher Columbus and other explorers of committing genocide, picked apart presidents from Andrew Jackson to Franklin D. Roosevelt and celebrated workers, feminists and war resisters.

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  • bloob
    I find it interesting that calling what Columbus did and the US did to native Americans "genocide" is leftist, since it was by all definitions. Saying that our heroes and/or our country can do anything wrong is "leftist." This is exactly the kind of patent revisionist posturing that Zinn was trying to counter with his book, A Peoples History of the United States.

    This obit also says that in 1980 few politicians dared to call themselves liberal. That's absolutely untrue. I was alive then and know this to be nonsense. It was still, in fact, difficult to brand yourself a conservative in many circles, with Watergate and Vietnam still fresh in memory. The demonizing of the term liberal began around 1980, an oft stated primary goal at the Heritage Foundation and something Reagan worked very hard at.

    I really find it annoying that this writer is calling Zinn a leftist at every turn as though telling truths that were omitted from history books (to make for a more nationalist and loyal public) is somehow a virtue and one has to be a "leftist" to set the record straight and tell the truth. The truth belongs to everyone, not the left or the right.

    By the way, do you ever hear Barry Goldwater called a far-right extremist these days? No, he's considered a centrist conservative now. Take a look at any news stories from the 60s. He was a far-right, extreme conservative. Today, he's what so-called "moderate" republicans wish we could return to.

    Oops! I must be some kind of a leftist for saying that! Howard might have put something like that in one of his books.

    Howard Zinn was a great American Historian and activist. He believed in being honest and telling the whole story. That meant including parts that made people uneasy about patting themselves and their leaders on the back.
  • Tim Foster
    A voice of reason is gone. He was one who could not be fooled by the right wingers or the faux left wingers. A People's History sits in one on my bookcases.
  • uberliberal
    Professor Zin:
    You will be missed. We need historians who tell the truth versus the "official" account. May your books and speeches be viewed by millions more! :-)

    AUM.....
  • DownriverDem
    RIP Howard. Thank you for making me think.
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