Most famous for his oral biographies, Studs Terkel, sage, humanitarian, philosopher, author, radio talk show host and television star for many years, died recently at age 96.

Division Street: America (1966) about urban conflict in the 1960s was his first best seller, followed by Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression.

He perfected the oral biography form with Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do and the Pulitzer Prize-winning ‘The Good War’: An Oral History of World War II.

Born in the Bronx, Mr. Terkel spent most of his life in Chicago and had several radio and television programs there for many years. His personality can only be described as effervescent and curious, he never failed to impart optimism and humor about the human condition.

Check out the Ann Arbor District Library Catalog to see our collection of works by Terkel.