 louis "studs" terkel (may 16, 1912&nbsp;â october 31, 2008) was an american author, historian, actor, and broadcaster. he received the pulitzer prize for general non-fiction in 1985 for âthe good warâ, and is best remembered for his oral histories of common americans, and for hosting a long-running radio show in chicago. ==early life== terkel was born to samuel terkel, a russian jewish tailor and his wife, anna finkelin in new york city. at the age of eight he moved with his family to chicago, illinois, where he spent most of his life. he had two brothers, ben (1907â1965) and meyer (1905â1958). from 1926 to 1936, his parents ran a rooming house that also served as a meeting place for people from all walks of life. terkel credited his understanding of humanity and social interaction to the tenants and visitors who gathered in the lobby there, and the people who congregated in nearby bughouse square. in 1939, he married ida goldberg (1912â1999), and the couple had one son, dan. although he received his law degree from the university of chicago law school in 1934, he decided instead of practicing law, he wanted to be a concierge at a hotel, and he soon joined a theater group. ==career== a political liberal, terkel joined the works progress administration's federal writers' project, working in radio, doing work that varied from voicing soap opera productions and announcing news and sports, to pre
1912_births 2008_deaths 20th-century_American_writers 20th-century_historians 21st-century_American_writers Accidental_deaths_from_falls American_Jews American_agnostics American_historians American_journalists American_memoirists American_people_of_Russian-Jewish_descent American_radio_journalists Culture_of_Chicago,_Illinois Elijah_Parish_Lovejoy_Award_recipients Historians_of_the_United_States Jazz_writers Jewish_American_male_actors Jewish_American_writers Jewish_agnostics Members_of_the_American_Academy_of_Arts_and_Letters National_Humanities_Medal_recipients National_Radio_Hall_of_Fame_inductees Oral_historians People_of_the_New_Deal_arts_projects Pulitzer_Prize_for_General_Non-Fiction_winners Radio_personalities_from_Chicago,_Illinois University_of_Chicago_Law_School_alumni Works_Progress_Administration_workers Writers_from_Chicago,_Illinois