Howard Zinn, 1922-2010

It was just a little over a month ago that I encouraged you to watch The People Speak, a series of performances based on historical documents that had been collected by Howard Zinn in Voices of a People’s History of the United States. As I was finishing up work today, I was saddened to hear that Zinn died of a heart attack earlier; I had been inspired by many of his books, but most especially his memoir You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train because, when I read it in my late 20s, it was a testament of living true to one’s values that told me exactly what I needed to hear at the time I read it.

Zinn’s version of American history is not the polite version most of us were taught growing up; on the other hand, because he was relentless in championing alternative perspectives, that version has become more commonly known. If you haven’t read A People’s History of the United States yet, I highly recommend it—if you don’t wind up agreeing with Zinn, he should at the very least drive you to question your assumptions.

27 January 2010 | obituaries |

Donald E. Westlake, 1933-2008

I was saddened yesterday to hear of the death of mystery writer Donald E. Westlake. Under his own name as well as the pseudonym “Richard Stark,” Westlake wrote some of my favorite comic caper and tough-guy heist novels, and many of those books had been adapted into motion pictures. The Westlake comedies starred a professional thief named Dortmunder, who was played on screen (sometimes with a name change) by actors as diverse as Robert Redford (The Hot Rock, above left), George C. Scott, and Martin Lawrence. The most famous film version of a Richard Stark novel is probably Point Blank, with Lee Marvin, but Robert Duvall did a great job as the lead in The Outfit (above right, with Joe Don Baker).*

Westlake is also the author of Somebody Owes Me Money, which Hard Case Crime publisher Charles Ardai (who brought the novel back into print last summer) and I agree is perhaps the greatest title a novel has ever had.

And be sure to read this thoughtful appreciation from Omnivoracious, from which the picture below is taken.

*Correction: I got the casting reversed when I wrote this post; it’s been a while since I’ve seen The Outfit. Probably too long.

2 January 2009 | obituaries |