Studs Terkel hears the resonant songs in people's hearts, then masterfully lays them out in print for others to cherish and contemplate. In his previous 14 books, the author offered oral histories from people of the Great Depression and World War II to those in the world of jazz and the not-so-ordinary working world.

Now at age 90, Terkel, a Pulitzer Prize winner, has cranked out another highly appealing book. It shares more than 50 Americans' hopes for the future, highlighting the highly personal social actions they're taking to ensure peace and equality for others.

Hope Dies Last: Keeping the Faith in Troubled Times is a quietly powerful book filled with people from their 20s to old age. They are activists both on a small and large scale who believe that what they do counts and, equally important, that they count. They are people who unabashedly carry a lifelong flame of hope, despite setbacks.

The activists who share their stories include voices from the raging '60s, such as Tom Hayden, whose current goal is to "try to learn to be the kind of elder who was missing when I was a kid." Folk singer Arlo Guthrie sees his personal role as "making people feel good about who they really are. Somehow or other, we have to put that back in our consciousness." Another folk singer, Pete Seeger, now 82, is there, too. Despite his advanced age, his quest is to clean up the polluted Hudson River.

Less prominent voices also speak out loud and clear regarding their personal role in reform - voices from union representatives, teachers, custodians, immigrants, war veterans and more. They're all doing something. They all care deeply about making a difference.

Terkel's book opens with the never-say-die tale of U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich. The long-shot presidential hopeful is matter-of-fact about his early struggles in life, such as having spent part of his youth living in a car. Yet at a young age, he saw his mission as being a man for others, and so he ran for city council in Cleveland at age 20. Wanting to accomplish even more, he ran for congress again and again and again - five times in all - before finally winning in 1996. In short, he had hope.

"The optimism I have is optimism for a nation, despite all that has happened," he says.

Admiral Gene LaRoque, U.S. Navy (retired), has another take on hope, calling it "a futile mental exercise." He believes things are not accomplished through hope, but by intelligent action. LaRoque freely admits to having been in favor of killing people and destroying things during his military years. Yet now he insists the U.S. should "talk, travel and trade and cooperate with other nations of the world," rather than threaten them with military force.

Terkel structures the book with minimalist introductions, then lets the speakers' commentaries run free in personal, informal yet intimate words. In one heart-rending piece, former inmate and accused murderer Leroy Orange shares his experiences and thoughts only three weeks after his death sentence was commuted by Gov. George Ryan of Illinois when Orange was found to be innocent. Despite having had 19 years of his life taken away, Orange says the ordeal has given him hope for others, and he plans to work toward abolishing the death penalty.

Despite America's recent struggles with terrorism and other troubles, it seems that hope has not been lost. The people in Terkel's book are still shining lights in the darkness, their voices a reflection of each of us.



Verna Noel Jones is a freelance writer living in Aurora.