You have to love living in a city and a neighborhood where you can just walk up the street and hear Studs Terkel speak. He was at Suzy’s Book Cellar. It was packed – like bordering on dangerous packed. Studs was just wrapping up his comments when I arrived. Someone in the audience asked him how to get people to open up in interviews. Studs said, “Be vulnerable. See I’m a bumbling fool. I don’t know how to work a tape recorder. I don’t know how to drive. People think I need help. And I do! And they open up. So be vulnerable.”
He signed my copy of his new book. The introduction alone is worth the price of the book and much, much more. When he finished signing, he looked up at me and said, “Do you like it?” I answered, shocked that he was asking, “Oh yes! I’m a big fan!” He said, “Good. Have some cake.”