Studs Terkel!

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I'm a big, big fan. The first book of his I read was Race, in 1993, which I got out of the library; I've dipped into a lot of them since then. The new one, And They All Sang, on music, has a lot of pretty fun things in it--John Jacob Niles is a grade-A character.

Which Terkel are you fondest of, assuming you like his stuff? Any particular interviews/pieces/vignettes stand out in your mind? Off the top of my head I'd say I'm especially fond of his takedown of The Deer Hunter, reprinted in The Spectator. Overall, my favorite (I'm guessing this is the consensus favorite, generally if not on ILB) is Working--he found a great, simple idea and found loads of really cool ways to mine it.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Friday, 9 December 2005 09:29 (twenty years ago)

Also, the guy himself is a pretty major character. Do the Chicagoans here have stories? Share them, please!

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Friday, 9 December 2005 09:39 (twenty years ago)

I think my Grandparents vaguely knew him through their organizing activities. I'll have to ask for stories though.

― *Jazz Douchebag* Berman (Hurting), Friday, 9 December 2005 17:15 (twenty years ago)

I like Race and Working, too, but it's been so long since I've read either of them. I also saw him read from Will the Circle Become Unbroken at a bookstore in Chicago a few years ago. The man is still totally with it.

Overall, I think I really just admire the approach: taking all of this raw material and just shaping it in interesting ways.

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 9 December 2005 18:12 (twenty years ago)

I want to know more about John Jacob Niles. Such as why I had never heard of him before that freaked out clip in that Dylan documentary.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Friday, 9 December 2005 18:28 (twenty years ago)

His greatest apparent talent is the ability to make everyone comfortable. He looks like an old shoe, too. Coincidence?

― Aimless (Aimless), Saturday, 10 December 2005 01:42 (twenty years ago)

my shoes aren't very comfortable. perhaps they aren't old enough yet. but they don't look so good.

― Josh (Josh), Saturday, 10 December 2005 01:50 (twenty years ago)

two years pass...

RIP. what an amazing life.

― horseshoe, Friday, 31 October 2008 21:08 (seventeen years ago)

three years pass...

http://www.wbez.org/episode-segments/2011-09-07/studs-terkel-surveys-americas-once-impregnable-fortress-soon-after-911-9

― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Wednesday, 15 August 2012 03:17 (thirteen years ago)

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