In all the publicity over the death of J.D. Salinger, I nearly didn’t notice the news that Howard Zinn had died. The popular historian died at age 87 in Santa Monica, Calif., on Wednesday.

While Zinn didn’t have the effect on my life that Salinger did, he did rock it. The first time I read Zinn’s book “A People’s History of the United States” - I just turned in my chair and read the title off a copy that sits in my bookcase - I couldn’t put it down. It filled in the holes that traditional history textbooks ignored. Or, at least during my era, minimized.

The deaths of the Indian tribes, the effects of the Robber Barons of the late 1800s, the sedition acts used to muzzle World War I dissidents, the Red Scare, the oppression of blacks, of the poor, of women - all these were the stories that Zinn told. And while even he might admit that he didn’t tell the whole story more than the mainstream historians, his work - in conjunction with theirs - does manage to give a more comprehensive view.

Following are 10 great quotes from Zinn’s work:

“There is no such thing as impartial history. The chief problem in historical honesty isn’t outright lying. It is omission or de-emphasis of important data.” Told to biographers Deb Ellis and Dennis Mueller.

“Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.” In an interview with TomPaine.com.

“It is possible, reading standard histories, to forget half the population of the country. The explorers were men, the landholders and merchants men, the political leaders men, the military figures men. The very invisibility of women, the overlooking of women, is a sign of their submerged status.” From “A People’s History of the United States”

“With the indiscriminate nature of modern military technology (no such thing as a ‘smart bomb,’ it turns out) all wars are wars against civilians, and are therefore inherently immoral. This is true even when a war is considered ‘just,’ because it is fought against a tyrant, against an aggressor, to correct a stolen boundary.” From “Howard Zinn on War.”

“To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.” From www.goodreads.com

“I’m worried that students will take their obedient place in society and look to become successful cogs in the wheel - let the wheel spin them around as it wants without taking a look at what they’re doing. I’m concerned that students not become passive acceptors of the official doctrine that’s handed down to them from the White House, the media, textbooks, teachers and preachers.” From www.goodreads.com

“If you don’t know history, it is as if you were born yesterday.” From www.goodreads.com

“I will try not to overlook the cruelties that victims inflict on one another as they are jammed together in the boxcars of the system. I don’t want to romanticize them. But I do remember - in rough paraphrase - a statement I once read: ‘The cry of the poor is not always just, but if you don’t listen to it, you will never know what justice is.’ ” From www.goodreads.com

“Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it. ” From www.goodreads.com

“I think people are dazzled by Obama’s rhetoric, and that people ought to begin to understand that Obama is going to be a mediocre president - which means, in our time, a dangerous president - unless there is some national movement to push him in a better direction.” From www.goodreads.com

Howard Zinn, who helped fill in history’s gaping holes, is gone. Who will take his place?

Below: Matt Damon reads Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States.”