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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Entertainment
Martin Pengelly

‘Like if John Sayles directed Forrest Gump’: the incredible life of historian Howard Zinn

black and white photo of man speaking into microphone with hand out
‘He finds himself at these incredible pivots and yet also has this incredible history and perspective and leadership ability through his years as an organizer’ … Howard Zinn in 1984. Photograph: Marilyn Humphries/Alamy

Matt Damon may play a great hero in The Odyssey, but one of the star’s own heroes is also set for his time in the spotlight. In Massachusetts in the 1970s and 80s, Damon grew up close to Howard Zinn, now the subject of The People’s Historian, a biography by Dave Zirin.

“Frankly,” Zirin said, “the fact that he’s Matt Damon and oh by the way is now in the biggest movie perhaps since Titanic, it makes it a nice little bauble for the book that I got to interview him.

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