Terkel - Dybek



Stuart Dybek was in the Peace Corps! I had no idea. He offered this up when asked about when he first began to appreciate Chicago as an inspiration for writing. He said that during training in the Peace Corps whenever he and other volunteers would talk about home was when he realized that he came from a special place.

I attended the Studs Terkel - Stuart Dybek event at the Harold Washington Library as part of Columbia College's "Story Week" (I've generally been to a story-week event every year since 2001).

Terkel is, of course, a civic and national treasure. He is (now) the epitome of the grandfather. He is witty and insightful and frail and magnificently human. Fortunately, his stature is such that we are all well-aware of his advanced age and make no qualms about appreciating him in his own lifetime.

What I took from Terkel, what I always take from Terkel, is the notion that the big ideas that I want to confront, lay claim to, best... they must connect to the little actions that constitute life. For me it's like a challenge, can I be humble enough to live/work/write in the trenches and have some sort of direct effect on things? Or does my ego demand that I try to live/work/write in some abstracted state where one's status (or "currency of status-talk") is elevated but one's real impact upon the world is nil. I should say for the sake of those unfamiliar with Studs Terkel... his oral histories have the gift of (seemingly) effortlessly pulling connections to big ideas (things like race/class/status/freedom/patriotism/mortality/faith...) from the mundane details of the day-to-day.

Dybek's I Sailed With Magellan jumped up my reading list after hearing him read an as-yet unpublished work.

I'll tell you, I wish I could bottle the charge I get from events like this.

Since I can't save it for later, I need to find ways to make better use of the spark.

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CREDENTIALS! I've read "Coast of Chicago" and "Childhood and Other Neighborhoods" by Stuart Dybek. I've read "Division Street" and seen a theatrical performance based on Studs Terkel's "Will the Circle Be Unbroken". Now, I've heard them both speak.

Posted: Tue - March 14, 2006 at 01:42 AM      

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