R.I.P. Studs Terkel (1912-2008)

The great oral historian Studs Terkel died yesterday. Unlike other historians, Studs wasn't interested in what the major players had to say. He was interested in ordinary Americans caught up in great movements of history. His books include Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression and The Good War: An Oral History of World War Two (which won him the Pulitzer Prize). His last book was P.S. Further Thoughts From a Lifetime of Listening.

Among his many great quotes was, on being born in May 1912, he said "As the Titanic went down, I came up."