"Old" Books of the Year

[Clive]

Our seasonal series continues. Dave Hill [below], one of the UK's best left-of-centre blogger-journalists, pays tribute to the indefatigable Studs Terkel:

October 17th was the date chosen by the National Trust for its brilliant "One Day In History" project. Ordinary Britons were invited to post on-line their experiences during and reflections on the twenty-four hours in question. The result was an instant wealth of online oral history causing me to be drawn again to the master of the art in the book medium, Studs Terkel. I like all his collections of interviews with everyday Americans, but my favourite is "Working", in which people talk about their jobs. It is candid, sad, inspiring and at times almost unbearably moving. The very last paragraph in the final entry in the book chokes me up every time I read it. This is a fireman talking:

"I worked in a bank. You know, it's just paper. It's not real. Nine to five and it's s**t. But I can look back and say, 'I helped put out a fire. I helped save somebody.' It shows something I did on this earth."

One of the saddest things about journalists and historians alike these days is that so few seem interested in hearing those kinds of stories any more.