Studs Terkel

Proust Questionnaire

Author of oral histories such as Working and Hard Times, Studs Terkel has spent 50 years as a champion of the blue-collar and an enemy of the overclass. Next month, he publishes a collection of interviews called My American Century, and pauses here to take down Henry Kissinger and boost the reputations of Thaddeus Stevens, Ramsey Clark, and Charlie Chaplin

Where would you like to live?

Chicago.

What is your favorite occupation?

Listening.

What is your most marked characteristic?

Logorrhea.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

There ain't no such animal.

When and where were you happiest?

Ages 12 to 15. Friday nights. Second balcony, Palace,

Chicago's two-a-day vaudeville house. Afterwards, a chocolate malted with gingersnaps.

What is your greatest fear?

Being forgotten.

Which historical figure do you most identify with?

Thaddeus Stevens.

Which living person do you most admire?

Ramsey Clark.

Which living person do you most despise?

Henry Kissinger.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

Self-importance.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?

Self -importance.

What is your greatest extravagance?

Taxicabs.

What is your favorite journey?

The bus ride to and from work.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Obedience.

On what occasion do you lie?

Too often to recount.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

"On the other hand ..."

Which talent would you most like to have?

To play "How Long Blues" like Jimmy Yancey.

What is your most treasured possession?

An artificial flower given to me by a Xhosa child in South Africa, 1962.

What are your favorite names?

Charlie, as in Chaplin.

How would you like to die?

On the job.

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?

A multilingual concierge at a posh hotel—taunting the pelfy guests, leading them down the garden path, bearing a remarkable resemblance to Henry Daniell.

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be?

A rambling alley mutt in a world of milady lapdogs, having a high old time breaking down class distinctions.

What is your motto?

Curiosité assomme la cucaracha aber niemals il gatto.

(Curiosity kills the cockroach, but never the cat.)