R.I.P. Howard Zinn

1922 - 2010

Another sad passing. Howard Zinn died this week. My friend Sheila was one of his many students, she kept in touch with him, and quotes him a lot. His book, A People's History of the United States, is an HONEST history, illuminating facts that have either been ignored or glossed over, but now finally told. And recently, he wrote a two-volume children's edition, which is really wonderful and oh-so readable. Then again, 87 is nothing to sneeze at. I think he lived every minute to the fullest...apparently he was swimming when he had his fatal heart attack.

My daughter took U. S. History as a senior because she was in a special program that included a lengthy trip to Ecuador during her junior year. Being in a junior-year class as a senior wasn't too much fun, but because she was in that particular class, she got the opportunity to travel to Boston for a weekend and meet Howard Zinn. And since Sheila was the history teacher that planned the trip, I was asked to accompany the class as a chaperone. And oh, what a trip.

The five-hour-each-way bus ride wasn't a joy...but everything else was. We toured Harvard. We saw RENT. We rode the subway all over the city. And we met with Howard Zinn - just this small, intelligent class of high school kids and Mr. Zinn. I can still remember the conversation, the questions, how impressed he was in these knowledgeable young people. And he was charming. And funny. And quick. The kids were prepared. They'd read his book. It was an unforgettable experience - for all of us.

He is included in Robert Shetterly's 2005 book Americans Who Tell the Truth. I remember being terribly pleased about that. I hope that people, when they hear of his passing, go out and read or reread A People's History. They won't regret it.

Some good articles to read about Howard Zinn:

"A Radical Treasure" by New York Time Op Ed Columnist Bob Herbert

"Howard Zinn, America's Most Inspiring Teacher, Dies at 87" in San Francisco's "BeyondChron"

"Howard Zinn, historian who challenged status quo, dies at 87" from the Boston Globe, his hometown newspaper

R.I.P. Robert B. Parker

1932 - 2010

I never met Robert B. Parker, although we lived in the same town for many years. I saw him a couple of times - once he was out washing his car in the driveway. He and his family lived in Lynnfield, Mass., the town in which I grew up. Years later my husband, Steve, discovered Spenser. We both read the mysteries...gulped them down, actually, going back to the very first one, The Godwulf Manuscripts. His Smithfield was my Lynnfield. I don't think he changed the names of many places in his books, we used to discuss why he might want to disguise Lynnfield. Then some of his settings made it to Maine, where we lived. One weekend we drove down to Belfast to see if we could discover where he was describing (we did). On at least two weekends, while visiting my family in the Lynnfield/Wakefield/Reading areas, we traced a couple of his jaunts in and around the suburbs of Boston - Middleton, Peabody, up Rte. 114, book description open on my lap while Steve drove.... We went to the Boston bars where Spenser went, giggling over our drinks.

I am extremely saddened to hear of Parker's death on Monday (January 18, 2010) at age 77. He felt like someone I knew. HE was Spenser. I feel horrible for his wife, Joan. It makes me ache, knowing that he was Steve's favorite author, and that Steve read every one of his books through 2000 (and that's a lot of books). It's Parker (and Spenser) that got my son, Brian reading. Other than Hatchet (Paulsen), Brian had never had any interest in reading. The outdoors was calling much too loudly. But he is now a voracious reader of murder mysteries - and it began, shortly after his dad's death - by reading all the Spenser novels, most of which he found on his dad's bookshelf.

Mr. Parker, thanks for the laughs (you must have had a wonderful sense of humor), for the wonderful mysteries, for the gentle tough-guy persona of Spenser....and also for instigating my own trips around Massachusetts and glimpses into other parts of the country, for being the spark that got my kid to read, and for sparking all the talks and sharing and audio-book listening on long car rides that were part of my own married life.

For some informative reading about Robert B. Parker, here are a few websites I checked out this morning:

This was the best - Parker and his son, Dan, singing Moon River. It's really wonderful!

Here's are comments from one of the funniest and clever young adult authors I know - David Lubar.

This site has a huge list of tributes and blogs about Parker.

Here's one of the Boston Globe obituaries, and here's one from the London Telegraph.

And lastly, here's a tribute from fellow Boston author, Dennis Lehane.