I loved Studs Terkel. I loved his books, his voice, his curiosity, his humor, his fascination with and love for his country and its people. I loved the stories he told, the incredible respect and humanity with which he listened, and, most important, the amazing breadth and variety of people, high and low, rich and poor, famous and obscure, that he invited into and uniquely provided a place for in our public conversation.
Most of all, I loved the America that I heard through his ears and saw through his eyes.
I am stricken with grief at losing him. But also stricken with fear -- that in losing him we have lost the last remnant of that -- braver, more just, more humane -- America.


Salon.com
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