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Remembering the Great Social Historian Howard Zinn

By Rich Fisher

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kwgs/local-kwgs-883121.mp3

Tulsa, Oklahoma – On today's edition of our show, we remember Howard Zinn, the celebrated historian, author, activist, and intellectual, who died of a heart attack on Wednesday of last week. Known mainly for his pioneering (and eventually bestselling) work of alternative --- or "bottom-up" --- history, "A People's History of the United States" (1980), Zinn (1922-2010) had a far-reaching career in American letters and culture. He touched lives, challenged authorities, and championed causes in many ways, and did so while wielding an influence that few historians --- or few academics of any sort --- ever attain. Our guest is Davis Joyce, a retired Tulsa-area historian who knew Zinn, and who was proud to call him a friend. Joyce also wrote a biography of Zinn, "Howard Zinn: A Radical American Vision" (2003), which is still in print from Prometheus Books. (You can learn more about Zinn's life and work --- and can view several accounts and appraisals of his historical scholarship and lifelong activism, from both personal friends and professional journalists --- at the following link: http://www.howardzinn.org/default/index.php.)