Howard Zinn,  professor, author, teacher, activist and a leader for social justice and peace,  died today, 1/27/10.  He was a giant lighthouse for many of us.

The author, poet and activist Alice Walker said ( Democracy Now, January 28, 2010 : "Well, my former teacher (Howard Zinn) was one of the funniest people I have ever known, and he was likelier to say the most extraordinary things at the most amazing moments.
I think I felt he would live forever. And I feel such joy that I was lucky enough to know him. And he had such a wonderful impact on my life and on the lives of the students of Spelman and of millions of people. We’ve just been incredibly lucky to have him for all these years, eighty-seven. That’s such a long time. Not long enough. And I’m just so grateful."

Noam Chomsky said about Howard Zinn “He’s made an amazing contribution to American intellectual and moral culture. He’s changed the conscience of America in a highly constructive way. I really can’t think of anyone I can compare him to in this respect.”
Chomsky added that Dr. Zinn’s writings “simply changed perspective and understanding for a whole generation.”
“He opened up approaches to history that were novel and highly significant,” Chomsky said. “Both by his actions and his writings for 50 years, he played a powerful role in helping and in many ways inspiring the civil rights movement and the antiwar movement.”

One of Howard Zinn's last public lectures at Boston University on Three Holy Wars in January 2010. From Democary Now. www.democracynow.org/blog/2010/1/8/howard_zinn_three_holy_wars

An article by Zinn from Common Dreams.org : A Just Cause, Not a Just War