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Today marks the one year anniversary of the death of “People’s Historian” Howard Zinn. The prolific author was best known for his “A People’s History of the United States” book which included the previously excluded perspectives of women, native peoples, blacks, Latinos, immigrants, and workers in telling the story of our nation. To honor Zinn, who I had the pleasure of interviewing years ago, I present to Orange Juice readers audio from his last speech given in Orange County. The “Zinn Master” as I liked to call him spoke at Chapman University on November 8th, 2006. I was in the audience. Tell me if you were there too!
The People’s historian began with some amusing quips about OC! Enjoy and Remember:
[audio: http://www.archive.org/download/HowardZinnInOc/HowardZinnOc.mp3]
This piece is a reminder for us to read “The People’s History of the United States”, which I plan on doing when I can get my next batch of books. Is it possible to miss somebody you never knew? I really appreciate the inspiration restored to me after hearing him speak. Powerful, reasonable, gentle yet so courageous. Not an easy thing to stand up for what is right ; for true democracy and true justice. I loved this post Gabriel. Thank you.
The Other: Thank you for the appreciation. Zinn was a force of moral clarity and quite approachable with his humble humanity. He is indeed missed…
I was there and I remember waiting in line holding On History. When everyone was waiting for him to sign security would tell you not to touch him or shake his hand. I remember walking up to him and looking at him saying “thank you” and reached out and shook his hand. His smile was a genuine one.