P.S.: Further Thoughts from a Lifetime of Listening

Studs Terkel

New Press, 2008 - Biography & Autobiography - 230 pages

This "electrifying" collection of unpublished work demonstrates the Pulitzer Prize-winning author's "great gift for tapping into the lifeblood of America" (Booklist).

Millions of Studs Terkel fans have come to know the prize-winning oral historian through his landmark books--"The Good War", Hard Times, Working, Will the Circle Be Unbroken?, and many others. Few people realize, however, that much of Studs's best work was not collected into these thematic volumes and has, in fact, never been published. P.S. brings together these significant and fascinating writings for the first time.

The pieces in P.S. reflect Terkel's wide-ranging interests and travels, as well as his abiding connection to his hometown, Chicago. Here we have a fascinating conversation with James Baldwin, possibly Terkel's finest interview with an author; pieces on the colorful history and culture of Chicago; vivid portraits of Terkel's heroes and cohorts (including an insightful and still timely interview with songwriter Yip Harburg, known for his "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime"); and the transcript of Terkel's famous broadcast on the Depression, the moving chronicle that would later develop into Hard Times.

A fitting postscript to a lifetime of listening, P.S. is a truly Terkelesque display of the author's extraordinary range of talent and the amazing people he spoke to.

Contents

• Dreamland 1977: 13
• James Baldwin 1961: 27
• City of Hands Was Born in Mud and Fire Financial: 61

About the author

Studs Terkel was an actor, writer, and radio host. He was born Louis Terkel on May 16, 1912 in New York City. He took his name from the James T. Farrell novel, Studs Lonigan. Terkel attended the University of Chicago and graduated with a law degree in 1934. Terkel acted in local stage productions and on radio dramas until he began one of the first television programs, an unscripted show called Studs Place in the early 1950s. In 1952, Terkel began Studs Terkel's Almanac on radio station WFMT in Chicago. Terkel compiled a series of books based on oral histories that defined America in the 20th Century. Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do received a National Book Award nomination in 1975. The Good War: An Oral History of World War II won the Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction in 1985. Working was turned into a hit musical in 1978. Terkel was named the Communicator of the Year by the University of Chicago in 1969. He also won a Peabody Award for excellence in journalism in 1980 and the National Book Foundation Medal for contributions to American letters in 1997. He died on October 31, 2008 at the age of 96.

Bibliographic information

• Title: P.S.: Further Thoughts from a Lifetime of Listening; G - Reference,Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects Series
• Author: Studs Terkel
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: New Press, 2008
• ISBN: 1595584234, 9781595584236
• Length: 230 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Editors, Journalists, Publishers; Biography & Autobiography / Literary Figures; History / United States / 20th Century; History / United States / General; History / United States / State & Local / Midwest (IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI); Literary Collections / American / General; Literary Collections / Essays; Literary Collections / Interviews; Literary Criticism / American / General; Literary Criticism / General; Social Science / Customs & Traditions; Social Science / Sociology / General