Studs Terkel is Dead

Posted on October 31, 2008 in Milestones Reflections

One of my secret dreams was to have been interviewed by Studs Terkel. Everybody, I think, wants to talk to someone who brings out their visions as they have never been brought out before. Where the keyboard fails me, I long for the right questions to be asked, for more space for expression and involution than is allowed by questionnaires or micro-blogging. There’s far more to be said than in the 140 characters allowed by Twitter. To build a line like “Who built the pyramids?” you need more than a clever catchphrase artist. You need to be coaxed, to be honored. Studs knew how to do that.

The news set me aback. I thought about the kind of American Studs Terkel would have found in me. The answer: one who finds himself teaching adults to read, participating in support groups, and, soon, running an English conversation group for non-native speakers. I’ve been spending my life helping people become more accepted in America which is ironically something I am very poor at. But they say those who can’t be Americans teach others to be Americans. That’s my story and it oozes like mashed parsnips. Goodbye Studs. You might have figured out how my lost American dream could have been found again. There won’t be another like you for some time.