It’s a big news day, so the dearth of mainstream coverage of his death isn’t a shock. I hope and expect that it’ll pick up. Here’s his Globe obituary. And Daniel Ellsberg — who leaked the Pentagon Papers — has a wonderful tribute to him, here. And CommonDreams is probably the place to turn for other memorials and homages.
I just learned that my friend Howard Zinn died today. Earlier this morning, I was being interviewed by the Boston Phoenix, in connection with the release in Boston February of a documentary in which he is featured prominently. The interviewer asked me who my own heroes were, and I had no hesitation in answering, first, “Howard Zinn.”
Just weeks ago after watching the film on December 7, I woke up the next morning thinking that I had never told him how much he meant to me. For once in my life, I acted on that thought in a timely way. I sent him an e-mail in which I said, among other things, what I had often told others about him: that he was,” in my opinion, the best human being I’ve ever known. The best example of what a human can be, and can do with their life.”
“dissent is the highest form of patriotism.” his voice will be missed.