Talk with one of the many people who knew or worked with Louis “Studs” Terkel — actor, host of the 1950s TV show “Studs’ Place,” famed radio interviewer, oral historian, author — and they will speak of his inimitable, unforgettable spirit. They will mention the courage of his convictions as well as his incredible memory, generosity, integrity, love of people and constant support of young artists and writers.
This piece first ran in Printers Row Journal, delivered to Printers Row members with the Sunday baiduhai and by digital edition via email. Click here to learn about joining Printers Row.
The University of Chicago will honor Terkel this week with “Let’s Get Working: Chicago Celebrates Studs,” a three-day festival exploring his influence. The event, which falls a week before what would have been Terkel’s 102nd birthday, features about 70 participants. They include authors Alex Kotlowitz and Dave Isay, both of whom knew Terkel, who died in 2008. Printers Row Journal spoke with Kotlowitz, author of “There Are No Children Here” and “Never a City So Real,” and Isay, founder and president of StoryCorps. Here’s an edited transcript.
Q: One of the panels at Studs Fest deals with Studs as a storyteller. In what sense do you see Studs as the storyteller rather than the one who got other people to tell their stories?
Kotlowitz: People envious of what he did criticized him as being more of a transcriber. He was anything but that. Studs had the unique ability to draw people out and did it in this really honorable and dignified way. You read his oral histories and you see these people are such cohesive and coherent storytellers. But Studs’ had a hand in that. The magic of what he did was to sit there and help people make sense of their stories. It’s what Dave and I do as well.
Q: When did you each first encounter Studs’ work?
Kotlowitz: I read “Working” in my sophomore year in college and was just blown away by it. In fact, that first piece, about the steelworker, just stayed with me, and I return to it periodically. And then I discovered “Division Street,” which, for me, is the book that is most influential on my work and that still so resonates today.
Isay: I read “Working” as a freshman in college, and I thought it was fantastic. And then, when I happened to get into radio, I heard his name and heard about him doing really nice things for radio producers, like hosting their shows, which seemed crazy to me, since he was so well-known and busy. I was on his program in 1993 or 1994.
Q: What’s your most lasting impression of Studs?
Kotlowitz: The thing that surprised me most was that he loved to talk. He wouldn’t shut up, and he’s the guy who presumably taught everyone how to listen. What I came to realize is, for Studs, listening wasn’t this passive exercise but incredibly active. You engaged people, you debated them, you laughed and cried with them. That was a real lesson for me because I expected to find this guy who was this empty vessel that people just poured their stories in. But he loved to talk, and that’s what having a real conversation is, and what listening is all about.
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Q: What do you think are the qualities that made him so successful and beloved?
Isay: I think he had the courage to stand by his convictions. He was not a phony. He was a voice of authenticity in the usual vast sea of nonsense. He always spoke his mind and he always told the truth. He was also incredibly charming and funny and a fantastic storyteller, just the kind of person you wanted to spend time around. At a party, he would have mobs of people around him.
Kotlowitz: He was one of the most generous individuals. There was not a young writer who passed through his sphere that he didn’t embrace and offer some kind of support. I remember I was just so thrilled when I sent him the manuscript of my first book, and he blurbed it. I came to realize it was something he did with every young writer.
Q: Studs once said “I’ve become celebrated for celebrating the uncelebrated … for giving voice to the voices we never hear.” That fits the mission of StoryCorps. Dave, how did he influence your career?
Isay: Well, Studs’ work was always done with integrity, and he always put the people whose stories he was honoring first. I think it’s the ethical force of the way he did his work that was the biggest influence of all. I admired him hugely and was in awe of him. He was one of my few heroes.
Q: Alex, it seems that celebrating the uncelebrated has been the focus of not just your books but also your film, “The Interrupters,” and radio work for “This American Life.”
Kotlowitz: Yeah, one of the things Studs made me realize is that you could take the measure of a society by looking at those on the outside, those at the bottom. In many ways, that’s what I attempt to do. There’s no doubt that my work has been directly shaped by Studs. One of the things I love about the work that I do is that you find there’s a kind of poetry in the everyday lingo of people. It’s what Studs found in spades.
Isay: I think another important thing about Studs and his philosophy is he believed that listening to people ennobles them, that it could change their lives and make them realize how much their life really matters. That’s core to what both of us are trying to do with our work. When I started StoryCorps, I had come to believe that the act of being listened to and having these conversations could have an impact on people’s lives and be transformative. I wanted to take a documentary approach and say the purpose, the end product, was the conversation itself. So, the core of what we do is to give people the opportunity to have these conversations and be listened to and know that their stories are important enough to go to the Library of Congress and be part of American history.
Q: Studs’ books appeared about every three or four years. Each one dealt with a certain theme of American life: the Depression, World War II, race, the American Dream. Taking the 15-odd books as a whole, what do you think was the big story Studs was telling?
Kotlowitz: Well, I think, one, the reminder that there were people who were left out, and, two, that all these people, despite being pushed away, somehow managed to stay erect in this world that’s crumbling around them. That, for me, runs through all his work, whether its “Working,” his book on World War II, or the book on hope. It’s about these individuals, who by circumstance have this dignity and character.
Isay: His point of view was that everybody deserved to be listened to. He was a political person, but I think he was just trying to tell the truth through the stories he recorded.
Q: Which of his books is a must read?
Kotlowitz: His first book of oral histories, “Division Street.” I think that book speaks to the fissures in the landscape. It did back in 1966, and it does today. To read that book, one of the things that’s unsettling is how little things have changed and how we’re grappling with the same issues. That’s a book I’ve returned to time and time again.
Q: We are 20 years removed from his last radio programs. Why should today’s generation remember Studs?
Isay: I think Studs was creating a bottom-up history of the 20th century. Studs would say we know the stories of the millionaires and the politicians of the time, but not the voices of everyday people. So, anybody who’s interested in how life was lived on the ground and what people’s experiences were like would find it valuable. Studs is the go-to guy for that.
Kotlowitz: Maybe it wasn’t his intent, but, given that this generation is so distracted with their gadgets, the beauty of Studs’ works is that they’re a collection of these very short stories. His books are not meant to be picked up and read in one or two sittings. You can pick up his book, turn to virtually any page, spend 15 to 20 minutes, put it down and come back a month later. That’s one of the things I love about his books.
Q: Do you have a favorite book, Dave?
Isay: I thought “May the Circle Be Unbroken” was a great book. There’s a lot of wisdom contained in people facing the end of life. They focus on what’s important.
Kotlowitz: Studs was a good friend. And I just dearly miss his company. There was nobody more fun and energizing and more of a joy to be around than Studs. I’m a guy who’s filled with angst. I occasionally get down about my work, and I’d go and spend time with him. It would be uplifting, and he’d be brimming over with ideas. That was Studs. He had such a sense of optimism.
Isay: He believed in people. We all miss his voice and sensibility and his willingness to call things the way he saw it. So refreshing and so necessary. He would have had a lot to say. He always had a lot to say.
Tom Mullaney is a Printers Row Journal contributor. He covers news of books, music and museums on his blog, artsandabout.com.
Let’s Get Working: Chicago Celebrates Studs
Dave Isay and Alex Kotlowitz will appear at 9 p.m. Friday at the University of Chicago’s Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St. View a full schedule of events, which includes “This American Life” host Ira Glass on the future of radio, at studs.uchicago.edu.
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