In an Elevator with Studs

I was being a little duplicitous the other day when I wrote the post about Chicago not having any ephemeral qualities. So much of Chicago's cultural landscape is forever changing, fleeting—like any big city. Time passes. Landmarks disappear. Take venerable Chicago media personality Studs Terkel. I read in The Economist that Studs died a few weeks ago. Another Chicago icon gone.

I met Studs once, sort of, a quarter century ago. We shared an elevator ride. How sweetly ironic—an elevator ride: what could be more ephemeral? We didn't speak during the minute or two we stood together in that small box. Studs must've been about 70 then. I was a kid, on summer work, delivering packages downtown. While I immediately recognized Studs, my shyness, or something, prevented me from saying anything to the Chicago legend. Studs…the contents of the package I carried…my youth…gone now.

Photograph by ricklibrarian.