RIP: Roslyn Zinn

The first time I contacted Howard Zinn was after a classmate in grad school mailed me a newspaper clipping covering his talk at a film festival in Taos, New Mexico, and he was discussing the Ludlow Massacre. I wrote a screenplay about it and it is also the topic of my undergraduate honors thesis. I was very excited about Ludlow and this was a great connection. I tracked down Prof. Zinn's home phone number in Boston, but as he was still at the film festival in Taos, I talked with his wife, Roslyn.
She must have gotten dozens of phone calls like mine -- random, effusive and enthusiastic -- people eager to speak with her husband. She not only was patient about taking another message like mine, but she engaged me -- she wanted to know what I knew. She was genuinely interested and prompted me with affirmation. She made me doubly happy I'd taken the chance and called because she was so kind and kind-hearted -- that was clear from just the phone call. Sometime afterward, I interviewed her husband, on the eve of the Iraq War, for KRFC.
Deep condolences to Prof. Zinn and his family. -- KT
(Click on post title to read obituary in Boston Globe.)