|
|
|
OBITUARY
Oral Historian and Activist, 'Studs' Terkel (1912–2008)
Sarah Gregson
| In The Voice of the Past, Paul Thompson argues that oral history has the potential to shift historical spotlights and facilitate communication between teachers and students, academe and the wider community, old and young. Even more importantly, it is one of the few historical methods that routinely gives less-acknowledged makers of history – us ordinary folk – a voice. In late 2008, the history community lost an oral historian who put a microphone in front of more people than most would ever meet in a lifetime –vale Studs Terkel, radio host, writer, actor, consummate listener. |
1
|
|
Born Louis Terkel in 1912, Studs grew up in Chicago, a city with which his name would become virtually synonymous. He spent his working life there, haunted the streets, knew the people. His family were middling folk; they did not suffer significant privation during the Depression but lived among many who did. His widowed mother ran a boarding house for migrant workers and Studs would recall conversations around the dinner table with people who travelled far and wide in search of jobs – he often referred to these chats as his 'schooling'. He did well at his more formal studies, went on to do law at university, but never found a desire to practice his profession. Instead, he exhibited all the classic signs of a 'misspent youth', frequenting music halls and clubs where some of the most exciting jazz and blues of the time were being played. It was a hobby that turned into a career; after the war, he worked on radio, where he met and befriended a great many musicians who would become household names – Billie Holiday, Big Bill Broonzy, Woodie Guthrie and the Weavers. Terkel also acted in plays that focused on the social issues of the day and was an early pioneer in local television before it became commercialised and sanitised. He became renowned for a program called Stud's Place, which was set in a diner; it had an impromptu chat format where an array of regulars and special guests discussed current events and how the world could be made a better place. From a local audience to national syndication, the laidback presentation was spontaneous, authentic and highly rated. Decades later, Studs would laugh that he still got asked, 'Whatever happened to that restaurant you used to own?' |
. . . |
There are about 804 more words in this article.
Please log in (or, if you are not yet an
authorized user, please go to the
User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
|
