Garrison Keillor

1. Garrison Keillor Anoka Boy, 1942

2. A show is born On July sixth, 1974, the first performance of A Prairie Home Companion was held at the Janet Wallace Auditorium of Malacaster College in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

3. “When the show was started, it was something funny to do with my friends, and then it became an achievement that I hoped would be successful, and now it is a good way of life.” www.theatlantic.com www.prairiehome.publicradio.org

5. • Born Gary Edward Keillor on August 7, 1942 in Anoka Minnesota. • Was the third of six children. • His family’s religious sect discouraged drinking, television, dancing, and singing.

6. He started his own newspaper at age 11, The Sunny Vale Star. • It was in Jr. High school that he began using the name Garrison Edwards. At this time he also began to read the New Yorker magazine.

7. Keillor Graduated from Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1966, later finding work at the Minnesota Daily and the University of Minnesota radio station, KUOM. www.answers.com

8. After college, he held various interviews with such magazines as Sports Illustrated, Atlanic Montly, and the New Yorker.

9. “If I had really wanted to get a job in New York, of course, I would have simply moved there and taken any job I could get and hoped for something better eventually.”, said Keillor “But I didn’t. I was engaged to marry a girl who didn’t want to move to New York, and I could see that New York is a tough place to be poor in, and then, too, I thought of myself as a Midwestern Writer. The people I wanted to write for were back in Minnesota. So I went Home.” www.answers.com

10. While doing research for an article on The Grand Ole Opry, he got an idea for a radio show, much like the old time variety shows that were popular until the 1950’s.

11. Guy Noir, Private Eye, is voiced by Keillor himself.

12. Adds for imaginary products and services, including the Catchup advisory board, and Powdermilk Biscuits can be seen hanging from above the stage at the Fitzgerald Theater www.prairiehome.publicradio.org

13. “For me, the monologue was the favorite thing I had done in radio. It was based on writing, but in the end it was radio, it was standing up and leaning forward into the dark and talking, letting words come out of you.” www.pairiehome.publicradio.org

14. The Fitzgerald theater the home of A Prairie Home Companion.

15. William Shawn was the editor of the New Yorker magazine untill his death in 1992.

16. Tina Brown replaced William Shawn and soon began to introduce changes to the magazine, during which Keillor was let go. www.bookrags.com

17. “The New yorker used to be a writers’ magazine and it was very important to me. But under Tina Brown’s editorship it has been transformed into a magazine…driven by gossip. It’s not a writer’s magazine anymore - its allabout the ‘buzz’ now.”, he told Irish Times Contributor Frank McNally.

18. “ If what you do doesn’t draw a big crowd or get written up in the papers, be proud. If you’ve dedicated yourself to the tango, or playing drop-thumb banjo, or digging up ancient cities, or writing sonnets, you are beautiful, and please do not yearn for the bright lights.” www.salon.com

19. Wobegon Boy First published in 1998, it is The story of John Tollefson, A radio show manager stuck In a midlife crisis.

20. Me: by Jimmy Big Boy Valent as told to Garrison Keillor, is a satirical spoof about Jesse Ventura, a fromer wrestler and Minnesota Governor.

21. Other popular books include Lake Wobegon Summer, 1956, left, and Love Me, on the right.

22. In 2006, Robert Altman directed a movie version of A Prairie Home Compaion, written by Keillor himself, and directed by Robert Altman. Altman died later that year, making the 2006 film his last.

23. Works Cited www.bookrags.com www.prairiehome.publicradio.org www.biblio.com www.salon.com www.bookrags.com

24. And that’s the news from Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the kids are above average.