Studs Terkel
The last few years when I have been visiting with Studs a number of times, besides telling me he was ready to go, he said “I want you, Haskell, to speak at my memorial” and I figured it was his way of saying… of talking about the affection that we have for one another, the fact that we have known each other for so many years, since I was like 10 years old when we first met. Then when I got this note, after Studs died, that his memorial was going to be on January 30th in Chicago, 2009, and that I had been selected by Studs to be the first speaker, I was, naturally deeply touched. So, I had to review my long personal relationship, and to hope that what I will say in his behalf will be in concert with what we both stood for our long lives. In researching and thinking about what Studs Terkel meant to me and also what he has meant to all of us, I have been encouraged by the character that exists, not just in the two of us, in our relationship, but which is out there and hopeful for all of America and the world at large.