Curiousity Didn't Kill This Cat: RIP, Studs Terkel

[Ben_Hecht]

Didn't drive? Urban boy. Moved from New York to Chicago at age 8. Public transit in Chi was good enough in the '20s, and good enough, now.

Have friends who didn't like him because they saw him as an unabashed leftist.

Their loss. His body of interview work with members of the music and entertainment worlds, alone, would earn him a spot in the parthenon. Snag his multi-disk set of
recorded interviews, for a real treat.

He settled into a routine, late in life. He had his role down pat, and played it.
Became totally deaf a few years ago, but hung in there.

Was in the car around 6 PM Friday night, when I heard the news. Cried like a baby.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

"You're a leech, Hughie."
"Makes you proud to be a sportswriter, don't it?"

RIP, Studs.
Solidarity forever.

 

[MN Matt]

I was in the play "American Dreams" in college which was based off alot of his work. Simply wonderful it was. I guess this will be an excuse to take a look at some of his other writing.

 

[tapintoamerica]

Reminds me of a Steven Wright joke: "Curiosity killed the cat. But for a while, I was a suspect."

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

One page for Studs? You lefties on the board are wanting.

Shame.

 

[buckweaver]

Here's an awesome, awesome half-hour profile of Studs called "Chicago Stories" from 2000. Has segments about Studs' friendship with Royko, his early days in radio, his motivations, etc.:

http://mediaburn.org/Video-Preview.128.0.html?&uid=5117

 

[dreunc1542]

Ah, this sucks. "The Good War" is an amazing piece of work. RIP.

 

[Billy Pritchard]

Thanks for posting that Buck. Just got done watching it and agree it's an awesome, awesome profile.

I re-read something today in his intro to "Working" that struck a chord, one I think many of us around here can relate:

"(Work) is about a search, too, for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor; in short, for a sort of life rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying."

 

[ArnoldBabar]

My baby was born Friday, and today I was looking at a history page for famous things to happen on Oct. 31. Got to the bottom of the deaths and was like, "Damn, Studs Terkel died Friday!"

 

[waterytart]

Hope this isn't a d_b:

http://www.richsamuels.com/nbcmm/studsplace/index.html