Studs ...

Studs Terkel didn't live to see the Chicago Cubs win the World Series. And he won't find out who will win the most important presidential election in a generation on Tuesday. (Then again, he'll probably know who will win before any of us will.) But if those are the only really depressing points about the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, historian and raconteur's passing yesterday - other than the selfish fact that everyone who knew him, or knew of him, will miss him tremendously - then this really isn't a time to mourn, but a time to celebrate the life well lived. And how. Beloved by an entire city and a world of readers, known as the virtual creator of the modern genre of oral history, married to the same woman for 60 years - you can't beat that with a stick. Roger Ebert, who's way better at this stuff than I am, wrote eloquently about his friend within hours of Terkel's death. Go read his essay, and then do yourself a favor and check out some of Terkel's work. He's the kind of writer and interviewer I hope to grow up to be someday.