Free Republic

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...

Studs Terkel died this afternoon at his home on the North Side of Chicago. The 96-year-old Pulitzer Prize-winning author, television pioneer, theatrical actor, radio host for nearly half a century, unrepentent leftie and friend of the little man passed away peacefully after a short time in home hospice care. "He had a very full, eventful and sometimes tempestuous life ," said his son Dan. "It was very satisfactory."

"I'm a bone that fits every stew." -- from The Dew Breaker, by Edwidge Danticat Louis ''Studs'' Terkel rails about the bloodshed of war, blasts George W. Bush for cynically double-dealing on Iraq, agonizes over the plight of displaced public housing residents, wonders where all the jobs have gone. Yes, Studs is mad at the world. This world-renowned nonagenarian knows better than anyone that there's much to be angry about. Still, much must be right with the world, because Studs is in it. That was my grateful reflection as I hung up the phone the other day after checking up...

TERKEL:. . . We have a mindless boy right now with the most powerful job in the world. And that is perilous. We have an attorney general who is like the guy Arthur Miller described in “The Crucible” in Salem, Massachusetts, 300 years ago, who urges people to spy on other people, witchcraft, and all women are hanged. So we have this. So am I being subversive now? Because we were told, to criticize George Bush now, in view of 9/11, is un-American. I’m very un-American in that respect. Except that I’m really American. . . . Bush is my...