Famed author, historian, philanthropist, journalist and Chicagoan Louis “Studs” Terkel died in his North Side home on Oct. 31 at the age of 96.

Terkel has worked with the Community Media Workshop, a nonprofit media organization located on Columbia’s campus, to create better communication and journalistic coverage in the Chicago area and Midwest.

The organization named Terkel its “patron saint” and has been giving awards in his name to journalists and media professionals for 14 years.

“Studs had a remarkable ability to make the famous sound normal, and the normal sound famous,” said Thom Clark, president of Community Media Workshop. “He did this through superb listening.”

The Studs Terkel Award was conceived in 1994 and has been given to three media professionals annually to recognize excellence in covering and reflecting Chicago’s diverse communities by the Community Media Workshop.

Columbia journalism faculty members Theresa Puente and Curtis Lawrence were both recipients of the award.

“Studs Terkel is a legend,” Puente said. “He was a prolific author and a pioneer of radio and television.”

Puente was awarded the Studs Terkel Award in 2000 for covering Chicago’s diverse communities.

“Winning the Studs Terkel award was a humbling, amazing experience,”

Puente said.

Lawerence won in 2004 for his coverage of the Chicago Public Housing Authority for the Chicago Sun-Times.

Columbia has also created a Studs Terkel Scholarship that provides $750,000 to help Chicago high school students who want to attend Columbia pursue careers in civic-minded media.

“Kids are the most curious creatures, and to know that the passions and interests and, indeed, the hearts of public school kids from all parts of this city will be nurtured by these scholarships gives me hope that Chicago will sing with new and important voices,” Terkel said in a statement released after he was informed of the new scholarship in his honor. “There are so many stories that still need to be told, so many truths that need to be aired, so many wrongs that need to be righted. I say to these kids: Be curious, be strong. Take the dough and use it well.”

Terkel was awarded an honorary degree from Columbia in 1968 alongside Ralph Nader and Duke Ellington.

“Studs has had a relationship with Columbia for a long time,” said Micki Leventhal, director of media relations at Columbia. “He exemplifies the best of Columbia’s mission to use your art and civic media to make the world a better place.”

Clark was able to spend time with Terkel shortly before his death.

“Although he was 96 and frail, he was still engaged and active,” Clark said. “While I visited him, he was bemoaning the demise of the Cubs and White Sox in the playoffs, yearning to see Obama’s election and constantly commenting on the latest

headlines.”

The Community Media Workshop held a celebration of Terkel’s life and work on Nov. 7.

Leventhal said there is discussion of Columbia possibly hosting a celebration of Terkel’s life in January.

Long before his death, Terkel wrote his own epitaph: “Curiosity did not kill

this cat.”

“Terkel gave voices to the voiceless,” Puente said. “He inspires so many journalists to continue this effort.”

Terkel was the famed radio host of “The Studs Terkel Program” on Chicago’s WFMT for 45 years. He is also a broadcast star and a Pulitzer Prize winning author.

For more information on Studs Terkel or the Community Media Workshop at Columbia, visit NewsTips.org.