Sad news out of Chicago. Author, oral historian, radio host, and all-around mensch Studs Terkel has passed away at the age of 96.
Studs was on WFMT for over 40 years, wrote the magnificent books Division Street, Hard Times, The Good War, and Working, and up until this month was giving terrific interviews on the state of the American people.
Studs gave a telephone interview to Edward Lifson a couple of weeks ago. The link above is to a long and quite wonderful obituary, but I'd like to highlight Studs's words at the end of his life as he was to the very end the kind of thinker who we value in this community.
I'd ask Obama, do you plan to follow up on the program of the New Deal of FDR?
I'd tell him, 'don't fool around on a few issues, such as health care. We've got bigger work to do! Read FDR's second inaugural address!'
The free market has to be regulated. And the New Deal did that and they provided jobs. The government has to. The WPA provided jobs. We have got to get back to that. We need more reg-u-la-tion.
I was just watching Alan Greenspan, he's an idiot, and by the way so was Ayn Rand!
Community organizers like Obama know what's going on. If they remember. The important thing is memory. You know in this country, we all have Alzheimer's. Obama has got to remember his days as an organizer. It all comes back to the neighborhood. Well I hope the election is a landslide for Obama.
Rest in Peace, Studs, and thank you for everything.
UPDATE: Thank you all for remembering the great Studs Terkel in the comments. And for adding more great quotes from the man. Here is an interview Scarce posted in the comments:
Harry Kreisler welcomes Studs Terkel, prize-winning author and radio broadcast personality, on this edition of Conversations with History. Series: "Conversations with History" [2/2004] [Public Affairs] [Humanities]
UPDATE 2: Roger Ebert, "Studs: With Love and Memories." A sample:
He was the most widely and deeply loved man I ever hope to know. He was married for decades to Ida, whose heart filled a room. After the Freedom of Information Act was passed, he was devastated to find that Ida's FBI film was thicker than his own. J. Edgar Hoover thought he was a subversive. Hoover, he said, had a lifelong suspicion of those who thought the Constitution actually meant something.
UPDATE 3: Statement of Barack Obama:
"Michelle and I were deeply saddened to learn about the loss of Studs Terkel, and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family. Studs was not just a Chicago institution, he was a national treasure. His writings, broadcasts, and interviews shed light on what it meant to be an American in the 20th century. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him, all who loved him, and all whose lives were enriched by the American stories he told."