Thank You, Howard.

• Author: Rothschild, Matthew
• Position: Editor's Note - Howard Zinn - Editorial - Obituary

We are officially in mourning his month, stunned still by the news that Howard Zinn, our teacher, died on January 27.

We are sadder today without Howard, who was so much a part of this magazine, and so delightful to deal with.

We are lonelier today without Howard, who taught us so much, including to overcome loneliness and despair by taking part in political action to make this world a better place.

But amidst our sadness and our loneliness, we take comfort in his teachings, which will long endure and inspire.

Each one of us who knew Howard Zinn, either in person or through his work, is in his debt, which we now need to repay with mindfulness and engagement. Today, we are awash in our own recollections. And next month you can offer your own appreciation of this sweet, wise, principled man.

Here is mine.

T hank You, Howard Zinn, for being there during the civil rights movement, for teaching at Spelman, for walking the picket lines, and for inspiring such students as Alice Walker and Marian Wright Edelman.

Thank you, Howard Zinn, for being there during the Vietnam War, for writing The Logic of Withdrawal , and for going to Hanoi to gain the release of three American prisoners of war.

Thank you, Howard Zinn, for always being there.

Thank you, Howard Zinn, for being a man who supported the women's liberation movement, early on.

Thank you, Howard Zinn, for being a straight who supported the gay and lesbian rights movement, early on.

Thank you, Howard Zinn, for being a Jew who dared to criticize Israel's oppression of the Palestinians, early on.

Thank you, Howard Zinn, for being a great man who didn't believe in the "Great Man Theory of History."

Thank you, Howard Zinn, for taking the time to write your landmark work, A People's History of the United States , and for educating two generations now in the radical history of this country, a history, as you stressed, of class conflict.

Thank you, Howard Zinn, for grasping the importance of transforming this book into The People Speak , the History Channel special that ran in December and that should be used by secondary, high school, and college classes for as long as U.S. history is taught.

Thank you, Howard Zinn, for opposing war, all wars, including our own "good wars," our own "holy wars," as you called them--and for pointing out that a "just cause" does not lead to a "just war."

Thank you, Howard Zinn, for pointing out that soldiers don't die for their country, but that they die for their...