On NPR, Howard Zinn and JD Salinger: I think it’s dandy to speak ill of the dead

I took a little heat last week for offering up a rather harsh appraisal of the late JD Salinger and Catcher in the Rye. Some of the many commenters thought I was wrong, but more than a few thought I was just being a jerk for being so negative upon the occasion of the man’s death. As it happened, Salinger’s death coincided roughly with that of leftist historian Howard Zinn, about whom I offered a rather nicer tribute.

NPR also ran an obit of Zinn, which featured a really harsh quote from conservative activist David Horowitz.

“There is absolutely nothing in Howard Zinn’s intellectual output that is worthy of any kind of respect,” Horowitz declared in the NPR story. “Zinn represents a fringe mentality which has unfortunately seduced millions of people at this point in time. So he did certainly alter the consciousness of millions of younger people for the worse.”

Now NPR is taking heat from lots of folks on the liberal side who think Horowitz’s comment was disrespectful, to say the least. And all I can say to those people is: Tough taters.

I know, I know: We’re not supposed to speak ill of the dead. By and large, that’s a pretty nice custom. But it really shouldn’t apply to public figures — and Salinger and Zinn both qualify.

The reason we care about the deaths of Salinger and Zinn is that they both loomed large, to varying extents, in our culture and in our discourse. There’s lots of fans of both folks, but there are also plenty of critics. And any honest appraisal of a public person’s life and career includes both.

As it happens, I wish NPR had found some other critic besides David Horowitz — who would also fit the definition of a “fringe” figure by the standards he applies to Zinn. But it’s OK. I hope they quote me when he dies.