Louis "Studs" Terkel was an American writer, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for The Good War and is best remembered for his oral histories of common Americans, and for hosting a long-running radio show in Chicago.
Terkel in 1979
Studs Terkel before his 95th birthday party at the Chicago History Museum
Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction
The Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are awarded annually for the "Letters, Drama, and Music" category. The award is given to a nonfiction book written by an American author and published during the preceding calendar year that is ineligible for any other Pulitzer Prize. The Prize has been awarded since 1962; beginning in 1980, one to three finalists have been announced alongside the winner.
Barbara W. Tuchman won the Prize in 1963 for her book on World War I, and again in 1972 for her work on early 20th-century China.
Edward O. Wilson has won the Prize twice for his books on biology: once in 1979, and again in 1991 in collaboration with Bert Hölldobler.
John McPhee was a Prize finalist three times in 1982, 1987, and 1991, before winning in 1999.
