Studs Terkel:
Chicago's "Everyman"

Louis “Studs” Terkel was born in New York City on May 16, 1912. Studs, a nickname taken from the literary character Studs Lonigan, enjoyed an eclectic career as an award-winning author, broadcaster in both television and radio and activist.

Moving with his family to Chicago during the second decade of the Twentieth Century, Terkel encountered a wide variety of colorful individuals who inhabited the boarding house run by his family. They, along with the many orators he listened to publicly in nearby Bughouse Square, opened his eyes to the world, its varying issues and differing points of view.