As appreciation pours in for Louis "Studs" Terkel-author, activist, historian and University of Chicago alumnus-faculty and alumni are noting the influence of his alma mater on the Chicago icon, and how his approach to the world made its mark at the University.
Terkel, who hosted a radio show on WFMT for almost 50 years and won a Pulitzer Prize for writing on race, died Friday, Oct. 31, at age 96. And while he did not put much emphasis on his University degrees (Ph.B., '32, J.D., '34), his work showed the effects of his education, according to John Boyer, Dean of the College and the Martin A. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor in History and the College.
Terkel earned his undergraduate degree in 1932-one of the first years of the Robert Maynard Hutchins era, Boyer said. "His education had a powerful influence on him. His acute analytical skills, his broad sense of the world and the world of Chicago."
Terkel was, Boyer said, one of his inspirations for the University's new Chicago Studies program. The new program aims to engage students in the city, to encourage them to not only study and explore the metropolis, but to work in the community as interns and activists.
"When we first started thinking about this program," Boyer said, "I thought of Studs-a social commentator, an activist, a leader in the arts. He's a latter-day Socrates, and the city is undoubtedly better off because of Studs."
Neil Harris, the Preston and Sterling Morton Professor in History, writes frequently about Chicago, and he highlighted Terkel's contributions as a social historian and radio host.
"His contributions to oral history and documentary were powerful and influential." Harris recalled Terkel's radio show, The Studs Terkel Program, and his "delight for the dramatic."
Harris fondly remembered Terkel's riffs on various subjects, such as the literary aspirations of Sandburg Village. "Studs, as I remember, interviewed an invented resident -deaf to any ironic overtones-from 'Sade House,' a fictional structure standing proudly amidst the monuments to American literary giants. He loved deflating pretension and threw himself fully into causes he believed in, among them, occasional protests here at the University."
Alumnus Max Grinnell (A.B, '98, A.M. '02), the author of Images of America: Hyde Park, Illinois, and a writer who specializes in urban affairs, had an unforgettable encounter with Terkel while a writer for the Chicago Maroon, the student newspaper.
"In a two-hour interview," Grinnell wrote, "we roamed through the Supreme Court justices, the world of Chicago politics, the messiness of oral histories and a bit of side talk about the Cubs' prospects for the coming year."
A year later, Grinnell recalled, Terkel excitedly called the Maroon office with some thoughts on Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. "He wanted someone at the Maroon to come to his house to pick up an editorial."
Grinnell drove up to Terkel's North Side home, and when he got there, Terkel was standing with an envelope. Terkel offered him a martini, but after taking a second look at the youthful Grinnell said, "Let's put the martini on hold."
Richard Stern, the Helen A. Regenstein Professor Emeritus in English, said he didn't think much of Terkel when they first met in the 1950s, admitting himself to be a "culture snob."
Stern said he didn't listen to Studs' radio program regularly, but he added, "Every now and then, though, before I turned the dial, I caught a few remarks by Studs, whose acuity and knowledge surprised me, and I'd stick with that day's interview."
When Stern's first novel came out in 1960, Terkel interviewed him. "Studs' copy of the book was filled with underlined passages," Stern said. "It was soon clear that he'd not only read it carefully, he had ideas about it. They weren't my ideas, but when I disagreed with them, he used them as levers to extract mine, then pushed me to places I hadn't been. Of the 20 interviews I did, this was the best."
Stern recalled that Terkel never slowed down. "Deep in his 80s," said Stern, "he was not only as good as he'd been 40 years earlier, he was better, more grammatical, more precise, more graceful and even more generous with his guests."
Stern has only one regret for the man he came to admire so greatly. "I wish you could have lived a few more days for the results of the election which, like so much else in the world, absorbed you."
Martha Feldman, Acting Chair and Professor in Music, recalled Terkel's character. "Studs embodied the best qualities of the University-curiosity, intellectual freedom, questioning and concern with all the things that make up society," said Feldman.
Honoring Terkel on behalf of the Music Department, Feldman highlighted his famous love for music and musicians. "He refused to be bound by distinctions of 'folk,' 'jazz' or 'classical,' and he showed special understanding of the lives and work of musicians as human beings," she said.
"His interviews remain, to this day, a model for getting musicians to talk about music. We will miss him enormously."
Terkel, who received the National Humanities Medal in 1997, along with Martin Marty, the Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in the Divinity School, and University Trustee Richard Franke, was preceded in death by wife, Ida Goldberg Terkel (Ph.B., '33). A retired social worker and activist, she died Dec. 23 in Chicago at age 87.
—Prof. Kunle Odunsi
