EFFINGHAM — Once upon a time, there was a guy named Louis “Studs” Terkel.

    Terkel, who lived into his 90s, despite a stated disdain for exercise and an ever present cigar, was perhaps the preeminent oral historian of the last half of the 20th century with books such as “Division Street” and “Working.”

    In “Working,” Terkel talked to people from all walks of life about their jobs. This week, a management consultant from New Jersey was doing the same thing in Effingham.

    Ann Tardy, whose younger brother, Carson, is a millwright for FS Total Grain Marketing, could be considered the anti-Terkel in some ways. Not only does Tardy not smoke cigars, but she is an avid bicyclist, who is spending much of the summer combining a cross-country cycling trip with work on her latest book.

    Tardy, a former attorney, who began consulting several years ago, is working on “What You Love About Your Work.”  The book will include interviews on the route of a bicycle ride from San Francisco to the Jersey Shore. The project may also include a documentary.

    “I had always wanted to ride across the country,” Tardy said. “I think too many people complain about their jobs. So, I wanted to talk to people about their work — what they like about it and why they do it.”

    Tardy began her ride May 15 at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. She hopes to reach the Jersey Shore on July 23. In between, she’s been through Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois, with time in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey in her sights.

    Tardy said people she has spoken with like their jobs in different ways.

    “Some of them like being able to help people — to make a difference,” she said. “Others like their jobs because they are good at them. Still others like receiving responsibility and the freedom to succeed.”

    Tardy said it’s been fascinating to watch people answer the core question of “Why do you like your job?”

    “Some people are quick to answer, while others hesitate and then think of something,” she said.

    Tardy said she picks many of her subjects at random along her route.

    “I talk to a lot of people when we go out to eat or stop at a grocery store,” she said. “People work everywhere.”

    Tardy said one of the most interesting things about her trip has been changes in the landscape from state to state.

    “I went from mountains in California to desert in Nevada to red rocks in Utah,” she said. “Colorado was green farmland, while Kansas was nothing but wheat fields and Missouri was nothing but hills.”

    All in all, Tardy said, she’s glad she’s making this trip.

    “It was a huge disruption in my life,” she admitted. “I could have done this when I retired. But I feel healthy now, and there’s no guarantee I would be able to do this in 25 years. I never wanted to regret not doing this when I wanted to.”

    Tardy grew up on a small farm west of Chicago. She received a bachelor’s degree from University of Illinois in 1992 and followed that up with a law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1995.

    After law school, she became a corporate lawyer in the Silicon Valley region of California, where she got a firsthand look on how businesses failed. That insight led her into management consulting, or as she put it, “teaching managers how to be more effective.”

    Tardy said it didn’t take her long to realize that it wasn’t always the CEO who made a company rise and fall.

    “I ended up seeing a need to get the middle layers of an organization stronger,” she said.

    So, she founded LifeMoxie. She chose the somewhat archaic word “moxie” to illustrate how thought processes can lead to success.

    “It’s gumption, chutzpah or just being driven by a bigger purpose,” she said.

    The product of her research on the road should be out early next year, she said.

    Bill Grimes can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 132 or bill.grimes@effinghamdailynews.com.