A People Person

Recently, one of my heroes died. From the outpouring of public celebration of this man's life and achievement, it seems as if he were hero to many others as well. I speak of Studs Terkel. Many people refer to themselves as a "people person," but if any one truly deserves that label it is Mr. Terkel. His many years of talking with people - famous and not - about their lives, ups and downs, perspectives, values, and reflections depicted an individual of great depth, sensitivity, and, yes, even strength. It was this citizen of Chicago who recognized that everyone, in their heart, is an inspired communicator if given the proper format and audience. All it takes is an engaged audience and a setting to bring that out. Mr. Terkel was both the audience and, in a sense, the stage director. The result was a string of oral histories on a range of topics that should be required reading for any and all who view themselves as being good with others.

One of the things I liked best about Mr. Terkel was his ability to listen. This skill showcased the importance of this aspect of communication that all too often is overlooked or only given lip service. In our public and private worlds today there seems to be far too much "talking at" than "talking with." Mr. Terkel definitely talked with people and was able to literally paint thousands of portraits of men and women that demonstrated that perhaps the not-so famous and not-so powerful in our society might be worth listening to; perhaps we might be better off if those who currently dominant our headlines and websites were given a backseat to the so-called "little people." After all, there are more of us than there are of them.

Thank you, Mr. Terkel, for being the kind of person you were. You lived over 90 years, yet, to my mind, that wasn't enough. Thank you for being such a great communicator and for being such as inspiration to those who still take the art of listening seriously.