RIP: J.D. Salinger & Howard Zinn
Two iconic figures in American culture died this week. Between them, writer J.D. Salinger and historian Howard Zinn influenced the lives and attitudes of generations.
Engagement: “From the start, my teaching was infused with my own history. I would try to be fair to other points of view, but I wanted more than ‘objectivity’; I wanted students to leave my classes not just better informed, but more prepared to relinquish the safety of silence, more prepared to speak up, to act against injustice wherever they saw it. This, of course, was a recipe for trouble.”—Howard Zinn (1922-2010), historian, activist, educator, writer, from his book, You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train (1994)
Related: • NY Daily News: Obit.• Howard Zinn site
• Boston.com: Obit.
Privacy: “There is a marvelous peace in not publishing. It’s peaceful. Still. Publishing is a terrible invasion of my privacy. I like to write. I love to write. But I write just for myself and my own pleasure.”—J.D. Salinger (1919-2010), reclusive writer and author of The Catcher in the Rye (1951), in a rare 1974 interview when he tried to prevent the unauthorized publication of his uncollected stories.
Related: • NYTimes: Obit and retrospective.
• The Australian: Reflections.
• NPR: Milwaukee’s Jim Krawczyk travels to New Hampshire, meets Salinger
Editor’s Note: So passes my youth.
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For me, the pinnacle of literary success would be to defend in court my right not to be published.
ReplyDeleteInteresting … I was talking to the director of the “Global Peace Film Festival” this morning and we both lamented the passing of Howard Zinn. I actually thought Salinger had already died as he had so successfully removed himself from anything resembling a public life. Zinn so pissed off the likes of David Horowitz and other conservative historians because he refused to accept the “winners” version of history, instead viewing the world through the lens of being a member of the human race. Sad loss on both counts, but I’ll miss Zinn much more.
ReplyDeleteBud