"Working the Land" / 363

Studs Terkel is an oral historian, and has worked on numerous radio cultural and documentary talk shows. In his work Terkel discovered that most of our history comes from the winners. The stories that are passed from one generation to the next are stories benefiting those with power. We hear relatively little about the Rosencrantz and Guildensterns of our culture (http://www.arts.ilstu.edu/shakespeare/research/rosencrantz.html). We know the names of the quarterbacks and runningbacks, but what about the linemen? What about people that changed the world like Marie Curie or Agusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace? Many of the essays in WRA highlight the voices that are often left unheard. And Terkel sings the story of the unsung hero accurately and beautifully.

In 1996 Kira Albin interviewed Terkel: "Studs Terkel: An Interview with the Man Who Interviews America" (http://www.grandtimes.com/studs.html). Terkel has interviewed people for more than 50 years. A friend points out in the interview, "Think of what's stored in an 80- or a 90-year-old mind. Just marvel at it. You've got to get out this information, this knowledge, because you've got something to pass on. There'll be nobody like you ever again. Make the most of every molecule you've got as long as you've got a second to go." Terkel has always been concerned about our national memory loss. In a recent article in January of 2000 from the Common Dreams News Center, called "Studs Terkel Tries To Stem Our National Memory Loss," Michael Olesker points out that "Studs is 87 and forgets nothing. He has a glorious history of writing and interviewing, of thinking and acting, and of tape recording the voices of people nobody else seems to hear" (http://www.commondreams.org/views/022400-101.htm). This is something to be prized. Terkel makes connections between Regan, computer technologies, social diseases, and other people in the arts like Noel Coward. These unique connections provide great meaning to us. Sometimes we need to go to people our communities just for these unique connections.

See http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/09/26/specials/terkel.html for more information about "Working the Land" and Studs Terkel. You might be interested, for instance, in learning about how his work has been received on Broadway. Don't forget the critical readings for this section, also.