The Great Listener Departs, But Leaves Us With Some Lessons

I always hope the president will be wise and make good decisions which will protect us from harm and respect each of our individual rights to pursue life, love, liberty and happiness.

But very few politicians have made it onto my list of heroes and heroines.

Not that I don't have any.

Studs Terkel, the author, oral historian, radio star, actor and all-around unique American who died Friday in his adopted hometown of Chicago at age 96, was a superstar to me.

I was about 19, huddled in a very cold dormitory, when I first encountered "Working," his masterpiece in which men and women in all walks of life are interviewed and talk about the world as seen through their eyes - and as revealed by Studs' questions.

I knew as I read it that it was important work, and art on a scale equal to anything that would ever hit the auction block at Sotheby's.

As I went on to try to do my own part listening to people, as a journalist, Studs continued to crank out the hits. Sometimes he dropped in on folks he'd interviewed before - in one case, visiting a former Klansman who acknowledged that as he went through life, he realized he'd been on the wrong side of things and had a lot in common with the people he had thought were his enemies.

Just about everyone was glad to tell their story to Studs, who a bit like Joe the Plumber (whose first name is Sam), was not named Studs by his mom and dad. He took the name from Studs Lonigan, the title character of a trilogy written by another legendary American author - James T. Farrell - about the working class Irish on the South Side of Chicago.

Naming yourself is, of course, a very revealing move. Studs did have a very deep feeling for the working class and got his big break as a writer churning out scripts for the WPA's Writers' Project, one of many New Deal programs which recognized that writers and artists are as important to this country as roadworkers, builders and everyone else.

Studs, I think, always returned the favor: he thought everyone was important, and that's why they couldn't wait to tell him their most personal thoughts and secrets, despite seeing his tape recorder right in front of them.

Here at Public Agenda, we also believe it's important to listen, particularly to the people who frequently aren't heard in the policy debate. That's what public engagement is all about: the concept that very different people and groups of people, if they will commit to listening to each other and considering each other's needs, really can work out solutions to some of society's most difficult problems.

It's something to think about as we all cast our votes in this most contentious election.