Legendary Studs Terkel to visit campus

by Tom Parisi

Chicago literary legend and oral historian Studs Terkel will visit NIU this month for a lecture and book signing. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author will discuss his body of work, including his latest book, "Will the Circle Be Unbroken? Reflections on Death, Rebirth, and Hunger for a Faith." He also will field audience questions. The event is free and open to the public and will begin at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 24 in the Sandburg Auditorium of the Holmes Student Center.

"He's electrifying," said friend and publicist Bill Young of Midwest Media. "Studs is funny, poignant and indignant. He'll have the audience in the palm of his hand."

Terkel, who recently celebrated his 90th birthday, has had a long and multifaceted career as a broadcaster, actor, playwright, jazz columnist, disc jockey, network personality and author. Known as a champion of common folk, he largely created and defined the genre of oral history. His conversations with Americans have produced numerous books, including "Working," "Hard Times," "The Good War" (for which he won the Pulitzer in 1985) and "Coming of Age."

"Studs is himself a Chicago tradition," said Keith Gandal, a professor of English at NIU.

Gandal arranged the visit as part of a six-week program on contemporary American literature that began July 1 on campus. NIU's Department of English received a $182,000 grant from the U.S. Department of State to conduct the Fulbright American Studies Institute program titled, "Redefining American Spaces: The City, the Land, and the Body."

The NIU program, which runs through Aug. 12, brings 18 educators from around the globe to campus to enhance their understanding of U.S. society and culture through the study of contemporary American literature. Professors from the NIU Department of English and numerous invited scholars and writers from across the country are teaching institute sessions.

"One of the reasons we received the Fulbright grant is because NIU is perfectly situated for the study of the American spaces of contemporary literature—the city, the suburbs, the exurbs and agricultural areas," Gandal said. "For the portion of the program covering urban literature, we wanted to bring a Chicago-based, nationally recognized literary figure to campus.

"Studs Terkel was the first person who came to mind," Gandal added. "He is the crowning figure of the Chicago literary scene."

Heather Hardy, Department of English chair, said both the university and the public will benefit from Terkel's appearance. "We're very pleased that our Fulbright grant is providing a rare opportunity for NIU, DeKalb and the surrounding region to hear Studs Terkel in person," she said. "He is a major cultural figure, and the American Studies Institute is considerably enriched by his appearance on campus."

Terkel was born Louis Terkel in New York on May 16, 1912. His family moved to Chicago in 1922, and he later renamed himself "Studs" after author James T. Farrell's famous character, Studs Lonigan.

Today, Terkel is recognized as the unofficial "Voice of Chicago." For more than four decades, he was heard on Chicago's fine arts radio station, WFMT, where each morning he hosted "The Studs Terkel Show." His insight into the cultural life of the city is unparalleled, and his many friendships have included the likes of such Chicago icons as Nelson Algren and Mike Royko. But it is Terkel's oral histories of working people, the Great Depression, American race relations and World War II that are known worldwide, praised by the public and critics alike. One of those oral histories is simply titled, "Chicago."

"If anyone ever personified the city, it's Studs," said James Giles, an NIU English professor and expert on contemporary American literature. "He's the spokesperson for the upfront, brusque, honest, working-class Chicagoan, and he's totally engaging.

"He also carries the torch for Chicago's blue-collar, man-of-the-streets literary tradition that also included Carl Sandburg, Nelson Algren, Gwendolyn Brooks and Mike Royko," Giles said. "Of the big five, only Studs is left to carry on that tradition."