Posted on 11/01/2008 9:51:55 AM PDT by Mike Bates
Studs Terkel, author and broadcaster, died on Halloween. Barack Obama observed: "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." Obama highly praised Terkel when he was alive, declaring him " not just a national treasure - he's one of Chicago's treasures." Terkel's appeal to liberals may at least partially be explained by his political activities. The Associated Press today reports:
Terkel's politics were liberal, vintage FDR. He would never forget the many New Deal programs from the Great Depression and worried that the country suffered from "a national Alzheimer's disease" that made government the perceived enemy.
So what does the Associated Press view as liberal, vintage FDR politics? An October, 1952 Chicago Tribune news article began:
"Louis (Studs) Terkel, disc jockey, TV entertainer, and one-time political broadcaster, declined yesterday to discuss charges by Owen Vinson that Vinson joined the Communist party in 1943 at the invitation of Terkel.
"Vinson, former Chicago radio writer, director, and actor, made the charge Thursday in Los Angeles before the house committee on un-American activities. Vinson has left the party, he testified." At least one other person also provided sworn testimony that he had joined the party at Terkel's invitation.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsbusters.org ...
I wonder if Studs “early voted.”
Studs Terkel was a Socialist..and he made no bones about it. I never read anything he wrote. But my brilliant dad, a writer himself, told me that Terkel was one of the most overrated writers of his generation.
Liberal or not (he was) I still enjoyed his books and unique style of writing.
Terkel was a Commie.
Even if he did, no doubt he’ll be voting again on Tuesday. It’s the “Chicago way.”
Whenever the LA Times runs an obituary of an old communist, they always refer to him/her as a “social activist”. It’s their benign code word for “Stalinist”.
Kind of like “community organizer”.
Growing up in Chicago, I heard Studs many, many times on the radio. I would characterize him more as a Eugene V. Debs/Joe Hill type of Wobbly.
Exactly.
I read The Good War. That was enough Turkel for me.
Oldplayer
I had to read the Studs Terkel book “Working” in a sociology class in college. The teacher, obviously liberal, thought he was the greatest thing since sliced bread. The book was about how bad life was for various working class people such as garbage men, and how they were trapped in mindless jobs. I had the temerity to ask why people who hated their jobs didn’t go back to school and get some kind of training or simply look for another job, as so many other people do. I was severely reprimanded for not understanding what life was really like in the US. The book was badly written and a load of leftist crap.
Terkel wrote some interesting books, but he was a hard-core communist to the end. If you want to be a communist (or a liberal), be open about it. I have no problem saying I’m a conservative. Come on all you commies out there, (especially you Barack) have some courage and honesty and admit it.
Most of Terkel's books I read consisted of him asking people questions about their lives. I never discerned any particular literary talent he had, even though the books were interesting. "Division Street:America" where he interviewed a number of people from different ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, was a decent book.
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