Book Notes: Hope Dies Last

I recently read another Studs Terkel oral history book, Hope Dies Last. The topic this time focuses on hope. He talks to his usual wide variety of people and there are a lot of compelling stories. He talks to politicians (Dennis Kucinich, Dan Burton, Jerry Brown, Tom Hayden), entertainers (Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger) activists, teachers, soldiers, immigrants, slackers, and priests. Some of the themes center on what has been accomplished by grass roots organizations, the “Higher Learning” section in particular shows how students got involved and helped Harvard staff employees get living wage raises from the university with the highest endowment of any academic institution in the world. Another fascinating story was about a man, Leroy Orange, who was unjustly convicted of a murder, after being tortured into a confession, in Illinois and finally got freed with the help of Northwestern law students via a pardon by then departing Governor George Ryan. The stories show that individuals can change things if they persist. An inspiring and uplifting book.

Comments

[Ozzy Osmond]

I read this about a yr and a half ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. Glad you read and posted about it.

[MC]

I was inspired to read this book after reading a review/interview with Terkel in Salon.com, when it first came out, but i wanted to wait for the paperback to come out, so in the interm I read American Dreams: Lost And Found, which I actually found more mvoing and fascinating than this book.