Studs Terkel
Studs Terkel
Louis "Studs" Terkel was an American author, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for "The Good War", and is best remembered for his oral histories of common Americans, and for hosting a long-running radio show in Chicago...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionJournalist
Date of Birth16 May 1912
CountryUnited States of America
recognition celebrate
I'm celebrated for celebrating the uncelebrated.
atheist belief agnostic
An agnostic is a cowardly atheist.
independent iraq term
We hear the term independent contractors in Iraq. Independent contractors? Mercenaries!
black-and-white journey order
In order for us, black and white, to disenthrall ourselves from the harshest slavemaster, racism, we must disinter our buried history.... We are all the Pilgrim, setting out on this journey.
hands differences long
I'm called an oral historian, which is something of a joke. Oral history was here long before the pen, long before Gutenberg and the printing press. The difference is I have a tape recorder in my hand.
optimism people despair
With optimism, you look upon the sunny side of things. People say, 'Studs, you're an optimist.' I never said I was an optimist. I have hope because what's the alternative to hope? Despair? If you have despair, you might as well put your head in the oven.
cities chicago city-of-chicago
Chicago is not the most corrupt American city. It's the most theatrically corrupt.
dare paraphrasing
I am paraphrasing Einstein. I love to do that: nobody dares contradict me.
nice vocabulary use
We use the word 'hope' perhaps more often than any other word in the vocabulary: 'I hope it's a nice day.' 'Hopefully, you're doing well.' 'So how are things going along? Pretty good. Going to be good tomorrow? Hope so.'
sanity
I hope for peace and sanity - it's the same thing.
atheist talking atheism
You happen to be talking to an agnostic. You know what an agnostic is? A cowardly atheist.
sleep animal wake-up
Once you wake up the human animal, you can't put it back to sleep again.
cities balance wildlife
I guess I was seeking some balance in the wildlife of the city as Rachel Carson sought it in nature. In unbalanced times, balance is as difficult to come by as Parsifal's Grail.
letter society supposed written
Someone who does an act. In a democratic society, you're supposed to be an activist; that is, you participate. It could be a letter written to an editor.