November 1, 2008 at 15:05:58

Studs Terkel: The Passing of An Icon

SAVE AS FAVORITE

VIEW FAVORITES

By Stephen Lendman (about the author) Page 2 of 2 page(s)

opednews.com Permalink

Chicago mayor Richard Daley said he "was part of a great Chicago literary tradition that stretched from Theodore Dreiser to Richard Wright to Nelson Algren to Mike Royko. In his many books, he captured the eloquence of the comment men and women whose hard work and strong values built" the nation.

Chicago Tribune writer Patrick Reardon called him a "voice (for) the voiceless" and said he was the only white writer to be inducted into the International Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent at Chicago State University. By unanimous approval after being nominated. The man who did it called "America a better place as a result of Studs Terkel being here."

He "was Chicago and everything good about the literary world...make that the world in general, said Chicago Tribune's literary editor, Elizabeth Taylor, one of Stud's good friends. Toward the end, he was aware "the shadows were closing in" but rarely used the word "dying." He preferred the euphemism "checking out" and said he wanted to be cremated and have his ashes mixed with his wife's (in an urn in his living room). Then have them scattered in the Bughouse Square he loved. "Scatter us there," he said. "It's against the law (so) let 'em sue us." It was pure Studs to the end. We'll miss him so. An era has passed.

Stephen Lendman is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization. He lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to The Global Research News Hour on RepublicBroadcasting.org Mondays from 11AM - 1PM US Central time for cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on world and national topics. All programs are archived for easy listening.

click here

1 | 2

I am a 72 year old, retired, progressive small businessman concerned about all the major national and world issues, committed to speak out and write about them.

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.