“We don’t know anything about the past and we don’t seem to want to know it. And all the time the people who can tell us about it, make it meaningful, the real repositories of living information, are being lost.”—Studs Terkel For Coming of Age, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Peabody Award-winning radio host interviewed a diverse assortment of men and women ranging in age from 70 to 99. This audio includes the stories of 14 people who lived through the defining moments of the 20th century. Together they represent an extraordinary panorama of American life and work throughout the century and the ways in which the times have changed. For Coming of Age is a compelling picture of what we have gained through “progress”—and what we have lost.
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"excellent. just. plain. excellent. but only if you love individuality and the best of the american can-do spirit. terkel always knew what he was doing. i for one am grateful for his style."
— Maggie (4 out of 5 stars)
" I miss reading this book already. "
— dirt, 5/10/2011" A lot of information no matter what you believe or your political views. "
— Gina, 8/23/2010" I found some of the stories interesting and even inspiring. Others not so much. "
— Steve, 7/21/2010" I promise that I will give this one five stars when I'm 70... "
— Rob, 3/7/2010" This book completely inspired me. "
— Cindy, 1/9/2010" A lot of information no matter what you believe or your political views. "
— Gina, 8/19/2009" I miss reading this book already. "
— dirt, 8/20/2008" I promise that I will give this one five stars when I'm 70... "
— Rob, 6/1/2007Studs Terkel (1912—2008) won the Pulitzer prize in 1985 for his interviews with ordinary people in such books as American Dreams: Lost and Found; Working; Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression; and Division Street: America Giants of Jazz. Often called an oral historian, he preferred to be known for playing music on the radio. Nevertheless, he received lifetime achievement awards from the National Book Critics Circle in 2004 and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize in 2006, and he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was awarded a Presidential National Humanities Medal. He grew up in Chicago and graduated from the University of Chicago in 1932 and from the University of Chicago Law School in 1934. He was an actor in radio soap operas, a disk jockey, a radio commentator, and a television emcee, and he traveled all over the world doing on-the-spot interviews. He also hosted a daily radio program on WFMT in Chicago that was syndicated throughout the country.