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[JimH]

I really enjoyed reading his book, Working, about the lives of working people.

Studs Terkel, who made his name listening to ordinary folks talk about their ordinary lives -- and who turned that knack for conversation into a much-honored literary career -- died today. He was 96.

Terkel died at his home in Chicago, his son said.

The author of blockbuster oral histories on World War II, the Great Depression, and contemporary attitudes toward work, Terkel roamed the country engaging an astounding cross-section of Americans in tape-recorded chats -- about their dreams, their fears, their chewing gum, about racism, courage, dirty floors, the Beatles.

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[JimH]

If anyone is interested, his book called "Working" is a classic.  He interviewed a hundred or so people, recorded their conversations about their work, and wrote 2 or 3 pages on each.  It's an amazing picture of how people think.  The biggest surprise is that the people with the big jobs aren't any happier with their lives than others, and sometimes less so.

[KingSparta]

I Did some Reading On Him Since You Posted His Name, I Never Heard Of Him, But I Guess He Was Quite Popular in His Day.

[edladner]

We lost Michael Crichton too.  He wrote one of my favorite books "The Andromeda Strain".

"We've faced up to quite a planning problem here. How to disinfect the human body (one of the dirtiest things in the known universe) without killing the person at the same time."

[ThoBar]

The biggest surprise is that the people with the big jobs aren't any happier with their lives than others, and sometimes less so.

All too true. In today's society material and fiscal wealth seem to be the only measure too many people seem to understand. There is so much more to life than a big house, car and bank balance (or debt as the case may be).

In too many of today's western based cultures (I can't comment on others), the desire to 'succeed' seems to be in reference only to these measures, rather than one's overall success as a human being, in which one may end up financially 'poor' (and that's often relative) but rich in almost every other way.

C.