R.I.P. Studs Terkel

"My epitaph? My epitaph will be 'Curiosity did not kill this cat."


MAY 16, 1913 - OCT 31, 2008

"Perhaps it is this specter that most haunts working men and women: the planned obsolescence of people that is of a piece with the planned obsolescence of the things they make. Or sell. It is perhaps this fear of no longer being needed in a world of needless things that most clearly spells out the unnaturalness, the surreality of much that is called work today."

I was required to read the Pulitzer Prize winning Louis "Studs" Terkel's Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression in a history class in college by an awesome professor who had long hair and always wore tweed blazers with leather elbow patches. This was perfect for me as it reminded me of swinging on my Grandma's old porch swing while she told me of how I came to be. These stories are truer than those in any history textbook, as they came directly out of the mouths of those who lived them. Studs' uncanny ability to relate was also used as a radio host on 98.7 WFMT Chicago between 1952 and 1997, and a political activist. On his hour-long program he would interview guests as diverse as Bob Dylan, Leonard Bernstein, and Alexander Frey. Terkel, age 96, recently fell in his home this past October, and had been suffering since. He is said to have died peacefully Friday evening. I'll borrow Studs' weekly radio sign off and say, "Take it easy, but take it."

Check out his new book, P.S. Further Thoughts From a Lifetime of Listening scheduled to be released in December, and also these titles from the past: Giants of Jazz, Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, And They All Sang: Adventures of an Eclectic Disc Jockey.