Pulitzer Prize-winning author, radio host and activist Studs Terkel died in his Chicago, Illinois, home Friday at the age of 96.

Terkel, known for his portrayal of ordinary people young and old, rich and poor, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1985 for his remembrances of World War II, “The Good War.”

In a 2005 interview with the AV Club, Terkel told Tasha Robinson “I don’t intend to fade out, I intend to check out.” Says Robinson, “True to his word, he worked right up to his death today at age 96; his latest book, P.S.: Further Thoughts From A Lifetime Of Listening, is due out in November.”