Studs Terkel, 1912-2008
October 31, 2008
The author-radio host-actor-activist and Chicago symbol has died. “My epitaph? My epitaph will be ‘Curiosity did not kill this cat,’” he once said.
Louis “Studs” Terkel died Friday afternoon in his home on the North Side. He was 96 years old. He was a special figure to Japanese Americans as the chronicler of their World War II internment through oral histories at a time when it was not yet in vogue to discuss their unjust wartime treatment at the hands of the U.S. government. He set the standard for responsible advocacy journalism.
