One of my favorite authors and historians, Studs Terkel has died at the age of 96. A life long resident of Chicago, Illinois, Terkel popularized the idea of 'oral history' and elevated it to an art form.
He won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for his World War II oral history THE GOOD WAR. His book on the Great Depression, HARD TIMES, is a tremendous account of the Thirties in the words of people who actually lived through those times and experienced the day to day trials and tribulations of hitting rock bottom.
I used his books in my American History classes and students always seemed to enjoy reading the memories of real life people just like people they knew.
One of my long time interests has been the Haymarket Massacre which occured in Chicago in 1886. Studs was instrumental in getting the city to put up a monument to the event on the spot where the bloody events took place. I remember going to Chicago for the 68 Democratic Convention and going to the place where the Haymarket events took place and finding a freeway overpass with no historical markers at all. Thirty years later, Terkel and other activists remedied that oversight.
I once wrote him a letter about his books and mentioned the Haymarket. He responded writing me two pages urging me to go to this old Jewish-German cemetary in the suburbs where the official Haymarket Martyrs monument is located and several of those murdered by the state are buried. And I followed up on it and have visited the grounds twice.
Even though he was a very famous person, he was a common man of the people. He took the bus and train everywhere as his means of transportation and loved to talk with people he met on the street.
He was a true Progressive Leftist and never wavered in those beliefs.
He leaves behind a legacy like few others have left. But like most great historians, his legacy is the publicizing of the legacy of those who went before him. He will be missed.
Studs Terkel dies
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sauronsfinger
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Studs Terkel dies
There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.... John Rogers
His books were great reading. He had a good long life, and accomplished a lot. As a Canadian, of course I don't see him as much of a "lefty" at all. All depends on your point of view!
A Canadian writer, Barry Broadfoot, compiled a similar oral history of Canada's experience in the Great Depression: Ten Lost Years. It is also wonderful reading. "Our" depression was somewhat different than in the US. Broadfoot also published a similar book about WW II.
They don't make guys like this any more, sadly. Tommy Douglas, etc., are only shadows in the past now.
A Canadian writer, Barry Broadfoot, compiled a similar oral history of Canada's experience in the Great Depression: Ten Lost Years. It is also wonderful reading. "Our" depression was somewhat different than in the US. Broadfoot also published a similar book about WW II.
They don't make guys like this any more, sadly. Tommy Douglas, etc., are only shadows in the past now.
Dig deeper.