Studs Terkel, 1912-2008 -- "Curiosity did not kill *this* cat!"
He had hoped to make it to Tuesday . . . .
Studs died at his home on the North Side of Chicago today at 96.
No words just now, but a very, very grateful heart for a life lived so well and so fully.
His own choice of epitaph?
"Curiosity did not kill this cat!"
Studs's home for 45 years, 98.7WFMT Radio in Chicago, has just started special programming commemorating Studs's life.
You can listen to my 2005 WFMT interview with Studs discussing his then new book, And They All Sang: Adventures of an Eclectic Disc Jockey.
Studs talks about his disc jockey days in general and the music editions of The Studs Terkel Program which aired for 45 years, from 1952-1997, on WFMT.
It is also the only interview that I know of done with Studs where he discusses in detail his passion for opera and opera singers including Rosa Raisa, Lotte Lehmann, and "his" diva, Claudia Muzio.
We play opera scenes with Raisa, Lehmann, Muzio, and a song by Studs's old friend Woody Guthrie as well here.
My live audience interview program with Studs during the June 2004 reunion weekend at The University of Chicago can be heard here.
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