Studs Recorded the Voices of the Streets…

Beloved Chicago actor, historian, author, radio host and progressive “keeper of the flame” Studs Terkel passed away Friday (Oct 31) at his home at the age of 96. He wrote a number of books based on his tape recorded interviews with everyday folks. His book “The Good War” told the stories of veterans and their loved ones. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1985. Visit his comprehensive site at the Chicago Historical Society. Read about his and listen to him at National Public Radio’s web site. Listen to Studs read Carl Sandburg’s poem, “Chicago.” (WAV file)

Welcome to “The Art of Crossing the Street”

“What really counts is to strip the soul naked. Painting or poetry is made as we make love, a total embrace, prudence thrown to the wind, nothing held back.” – Jean Miro

“Dare to be naive” – R. Buckminster Fuller

“Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes)” – Walt Whitman

“The experience of doing anything well — from the minor scale to the Hammerklavier Sonata — is an irreplaceable event of the spirit.” – Robert Crudin

“The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shock-proof, shit detector. This is the writer’s radar and all great writers have had it.” – Ernest Hemingway

“My feeling that the concept of creativeness and the concept of the healthy, self-actualizing, fully human person seems to be coming closer and closer together, and may perhaps turn out to be the same thing.” – Abraham Maslow

“There ain’t no rules here! We’re trying to accomplish something!” – Attributed to Thomas Edison upon being asked by a new worker at Menlo Park where the lab rules were posted.

“Imagination precedes implementation” – Industrial Areas Foundation training principle

“It takes a village to survive” – Isabel Allende

Here are some quotes relating to the creative process I’ve found particularly inspiring. If you’ve got one, please send it to:tom@tresser.com.

Thank you!