Oral historian Terkel expresses his enduring hope that pressure from below, from the activists and the troublemakers, can lead to a more equitable society in this, his latest collection of interviews. Not everyone of the 56 figures reminiscing in these pages can properly be called an activist in the narrow sense of the term, but the hope of the activists is a theme that runs throughout as a wide range of mostly American individuals considering politics and life during the period of the New Deal, the 1960s, past and current labor movements, immigrants rights campaigns, and antiwar movements.
Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

"As a collector of true stories and a guardian of free speech, Terkel ensures that grass-root alternatives to the 'official word' are heard from sea to shining sea." Donna Seaman, Booklist

"Terkel worries that Americans are losing hope and consequently losing a collective call to social activism for which hope, he feels, is requisite....Here hope resounds through the pages." Publishers Weekly

"[T]houghtful and moving interviews....The book opens with an interesting personal note by Terkel that nicely sets the tone. Highly recommended." Library Journal

"There is no one in the world who can listen like Studs Terkel....He has heard, he reflects back to us, our deepest feelings." Oliver Sacks

"Studs Terkel is more than a writer, he is a national resource." John Kenneth Galbraith

"An American treasure." Cornel West

Hope Dies Last: Keeping the Faith in Troubled Times is the tenth oral history by the Pulitzer Prize winner and his account of an "American century" of hope, activism, and determination.

Studs Terkel is the author of ten books of oral history, including Working and the Pulitzer Prize-winning "The Good War."

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Personal Notes
Prologue: Brothers — Father Robert Oldershaw and Dr. John Oldershaw 3
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Representative Dennis Kucinich 13
Representative Dan Burton 21
The New Deal: The Old War
Clancy Sigal 29
Arnold Sundgaard 34
Normal Lloyd 37
Adolph Kiefer (with interjections by his wife, Joyce) 38
Admiral Gene LaRoque 42
Brigadier General Paul Tibbets 47
Herb Mitgang 56
Voices of the '60s
Tom Hayden 59
Staughton Lynd 71
Arlo Guthrie 78
Concerning Enronism
John Kenneth Galbraith 87
Wallace Rasmussen 91
Bread and Roses
Victor Reuther 95
Carole Travis 102
Ken Paff 109
Roberta Lynch 116
Eliseo Medina 124
Tom Geoghegan 128
Lift Every Voice
Tim Black 133
Elaine Jones (with postscript by Theodore Shaw) 140
The Reverend Will D. Campbell 146
Lloyd Kind 152
Mel Leventhal 157
The Pardon
Leroy Orange 163
Teachers
Deborah Bayly 173
Quinn Brisben 180
Easy Riders
Andrew McNeil 189
Michael Oldham 193
Dr. David Buchanen 197
Anyplace I Hang My Hat is Home
Rene Maxwell 201
Dierdre Merriman 204
Alderwoman Helen Shiller 209
A Priest and Two Ex-Seminarians
John Donahue 215
Jerry Brown 221
Ed Chambers 225
The Discovery of Power
Mike Gecan 233
Linda Stout 243
Pete Seeger 249
Frances Moore Lappe 253
Immigrants
Usama Alshaibi 265
"Maria" and "Pedro" (interpreted by Father Brendan Curran) 271
A Caveat: Sam Osaki 277
Younglings
Mollie McGrath 285
Bob Hemauer 288
Lynn Siebert 292
Maggie Morningstone 295
Higher Learning
Liliana Lineares (interpreted by Minsu Longiaru) 297
Bob Kelly 301
Greg Halpern 303
Edward Childs 311
Epilogue: The Pilgrim — Kathy Kelly