Has the death of a person of notoriety ever affected you more than you thought it would? Who was it and why did their death mean to you?

Dr. Howard Zinn died of a heart attack today, he has been an activist, scholar, and all around inspiration to many. I found that the news of his death upset me as I if I had been informed a member of my own family had died. He was part of what seems to be a dwindling spirit in the United States and his death makes the problems we are facing seem much more real to me.