Studs Terkel
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Background
Louis “Studs” Terkel was a Pulitzer Prize winning author whose multifaceted career contributed to the variety of subject matter he chose to explore throughout his life. He accomplished this as a playwright, a radio news commentator, a sportscaster, a film narrator, a jazz columnist, a disc jockey, a music festival host, and as an award winning author 1.
Terkel was born in 1912 and grew up in Chicago. He attended the University of Chicago where he received his law degree in 1934. He chose not to pursue a career in law and instead got a job with the WPA Writer’s Project in the radio division. After a brief stint in the Air Force, he landed his own radio show in 1944 called “The Wax Museum Show”. A year later, the television show “Stud’s Place” debuted. This is where Terkel really began honing his skills as an interviewer2.
From 1952 to 1997 the award winning “The Stud’s Terkel Program” was a staple on Chicago radio station WFMT. On the program Terkel interviewed Chicagoans, national, and international figures on a variety of topics. Guests included politicians, activists, artists, and writers. Aside from those interviewed on his radio program, he also interviewed countless others for his numerous books3.
Terkel continued interviewing people, writing books, and making public appearances late into his life. He died on October 31, 2008. He was 96 years old4.
Publications5
Division Street: America (The New Press, 1967).
Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression (The New Press, 1970).
Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do (The New Press, 1974).
Talking to Myself: A Memoir of My Times (The New Press, 1977).
American Dreams: Lost and Found (The New Press, 1980).
"The Good War": An Oral History of World War II (The New Press, 1984).
The Great Divide: Second Thoughts on the American Dream (Pantheon Books, 1988).
Race: How Blacks and Whites Think and Feel About the American Obsession (The New Press, 1992).
Coming of Age: The Story of Our Century by Those Who’ve Lived It (The New Press, 1995).
My American Century (The New Press, 1997).
Touch and Go (The New Press, 2007).
P.S.: Further Thoughts From a Lifetime of Listening (The New Press, 2008).
Awards6
George Foster Peabody Award for “The Studs Terkel Program” (1980)
Pulitzer Prize for “The Good War” (1985)
The National Medal for Humanities (1997)
Presidential National Humanities Medal (1999)
References
(1) Chicago History Museum, “Studs Terkel: Conversations with America”, Introduction, http://www.studsterkel.org/introduction.php, (accessed May 5, 2009).
(2) Chicago History Museum, “Studs Terkel: Conversations with America”, Biography, http://www.studsterkel.org/bio.php, (accessed May 5, 2009).
(3) Chicago History Museum, “Studs Terkel: Conversations with America”, Introduction, http://www.studsterkel.org/introduction.php, (accessed May 5, 2009).
(4) Chicago History Museum, “Studs Terkel: Conversations with America”, Biography, http://www.studsterkel.org/bio.php, (accessed May 5, 2009).
(5) William Grimes, “The New York Times”, Studs Terkel, Listener to American, Dies at 96, published October 31, 2008, (accessed May 5, 2009). http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/01/books/01terkel.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
(6) Chicago History Museum, “Studs Terkel: Conversations with America”, Introduction, http://www.studsterkel.org/introduction.php, (accessed May 5, 2009).
