Studs Terkel

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Louis "Studs" Terkel (born May 16, 1912 in New York City , New York , † October 31, 2008 in Chicago , Illinois ) was an American writer and radio host . He was best known for his radio interviews - he called them conversations - as a pioneer of oral history and jazz . He described himself as a guerrilla journalist .

He was nicknamed Studs because of his resemblance to Studs Lonigan , the character from James T. Farrell's novel trilogy about the life of a man from a humble background in Chicago.

Studs Terkel (2007)

Life

Louis Terkel was born in New York as the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants. His father was a tailor, his mother worked in a circus. From 1926 to 1936 the family ran a cheap hotel; a fact that Terkel owed early contact with very different people. Terkel graduated from the University of Chicago with a law degree but never worked as a lawyer. He became a stage, radio and film actor, took part in one of the first “ soap operas ” for television, wrote plays and commercials, was a news anchor and sports reporter, and presented music programs and radio shows. The center of his life was and always remained Chicago.

Terkel had sympathized with the political left since the 1930s, naming his son Paul (with Ida Goldberg, whom he married in 1939) after Paul Robeson . During the McCarthy era , Terkel was therefore on an unofficial " black list " and could not continue his television career. From 1952 he then moderated The Studs Terkel Program on the Chicago radio station WFMT and continued this program every week until 1997. His interlocutors included prominent as well as unknown people of various origins. He is considered "the man who interviewed America".

Terkel's first book Giants of Jazz was published in 1956. In his book The Good War he lets soldiers and people on the home front from all walks of life tell their experiences during the Second World War . The book is written in the same style as all of its other publications: texts as if people were writing it down themselves. Several of his books are based on oral retelling of his extensive conversations and interviews with contemporary witnesses and Americans of all origins or social backgrounds. He gave less space to entertainers, artists and politicians in his books: Terkel is therefore considered to be a chronicler who documented the lives of “ordinary” people in America in the 20th century, who mostly were not the focus of public attention. Through this activity, Terkel also gained attention outside the USA.

Studs Terkel was a member of PEN America and in the last years of his life was closely associated with the Chicago Historical Society , which had set up the "Studs Terkel Oral History Archive" and was in charge of it together with Terkel.

Terkel died in his Chicago apartment on October 31, 2008 after falling a few weeks earlier.

Awards and honors

Books (in German translation)

  • Report from an American city: Chicago. Nymphenburger Verlag, Munich 1967 (from the American by Alexander Bergengruen and Thomas M. Höpfner)
  • The Big Bang: The Story of the American Depression. Suhrkamp Verlag (st 23), Frankfurt am Main 1972, ISBN 3-518-06523-8 (Selected, translated from the American and imported by Dieter Hildebrandt )
  • The American dream: 44 conversations with Americans. Verlag Klaus Wagenbach, Berlin 1981, ISBN 3-8031-2080-2 (from the American by Andreas Hamburger and Wolfgang Heuss)
  • American portraits. Reclam-Verlag ( UB 1204), Leipzig 1987, ISBN 3-379-00151-1 (with Harry Maurer, translated by Karin and Rainer Schnoor; edited by Rainer Schnoor)
  • The good war. America in World War II. Speak to contemporary witnesses. Schneekluth Verlag, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-7951-1133-1 ( translated from the American by Christiane Buchner)
  • Rich and poor. The America of the Reagan era. Speak to contemporary witnesses. Schneekluth Verlag, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-7951-1147-1 (from the American by Christiane Buchner)
  • They are just different. The fear of the other skin color - the everyday racism in America. Europa Verlag , Vienna 1994, ISBN 3-203-51213-0 (from the American by Werner Kügler)
  • The old ones are not us. Traces of life through our century. Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 1996, ISBN 3-86153-114-3 (from the American by Annette Wiethüchter)
  • Conversations about life and death. Borderline experiences, fears, wishes and hopes. Verlag Antje Kunstmann, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-88897-311-2 (from the English by Inge Leipold)
    • Paperback edition as: American Pictures. Conversations about life and death. Diana, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-453-88017-X .
  • Hope dies last. Political engagement in difficult times. Kunstmann, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-88897-368-6 (from the English by Michael Schulte)
  • Giants of jazz. Zweiausendeins, Frankfurt am Main 2005, ISBN 3-86150-723-4 (from the American by Karl Heinz Siber)
  • Studs Meets Music: Studs Terkel in conversation with great musicians of the twentieth century. Kunstmann, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-88897-453-4 (from the English by Kristian Lutz)

literature

  • Elisabeth Klaus: Studs Terkel. In: Elisabeth Klaus among other things: A heart for original tones: The everyday journalism. Bernhardt-Pätzold, Stadthagen 1990, pp. 70–79.
  • Elisabeth Klaus, Anna-Maria Liebenwein: Studs Terkel - Oral Historian, journalist, bearer of hope; Studs Terkel and his everyday journalism. (with DVD) Faculty 3, Language, Literature and Media Studies at the University of Siegen, Siegen 2008, ISSN  0721-3271

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ PEN American Center Annual Report , Issue 2008–2009 : "In Memoriam".
  2. ↑ Members: Studs Terkel. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed April 29, 2019 .


personal data
SURNAME Terkel, studs
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Terkel, Louis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American writer and radio host
DATE OF BIRTH May 16, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH October 31, 2008
Place of death Chicago