Sentence:  He was happy . . . to be going out to a restaurant without having to sign books or talk to students about Whitman and Melville. . . . Idolized Bech loved, at the end of a long day impersonating himself, being <WSD>just folks</WSD>. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Ordinary, unpretentious people; an ordinary, unpretentious person.