Backgrounder: Garrison Keillor
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Most people may not recognize his face, but after hearing his voice, they would instantly identify the writer and radio personality Garrison Keillor.
Sporting a thick set of round glasses and a mess of unruly hair, Keillor has been the voice behind the popular radio show A Prairie Home Companion since the early 1970s. The 63-year-old Minnesotan is also a well known writer and comedian with a dedicated group of fans.
His live program, which is broadcasted on more than 500 stations across the country, features segments of comedy, monologue and a variety of musical performances and is reminiscent of radio programs popular before television.
"I really believe that if you sit in a room with people and listen to something, you feel closer to them than if you sit and look at television."
"I really believe that if you sit in a room with people and listen to something, you feel closer to them than if you sit and look at television," Keillor told Mother Earth News in an interview in June 1985.
Keillor is also author to eight books — including Wobegon Boy (1998) and Leave Home (1987), which are filled with his depictions of small town life in Lake Wobegon. Wobegon Boy was on the New York Times bestseller list for eight weeks.
Keillor spent some time writing for The New Yorker, where he created his signature article that inspired him to create a live variety radio show. It was his writing on the Grand Ole Opry in 1974 that would lead him to develop his show which was a combination of bluegrass music and commentary.
The town of Lake Wobegon, Minn., is the subject surrounding hours of discussion, monologues and commercials on A Prairie Home Companion. However, most who are familiar with Keillor's work will know that his Wobegon exists only in fiction, "where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking and all the children are above average."
Fake commercials, such as the one for "Powdermilk Biscuits ... that give shy people the get up and go to do what needs to be done," are among the popular segments the show frequently airs.
The show aired on Minnesota Public Radio in 1974 and is still broadcasting today, although Keillor took a three-year break in 1987 to concentrate on his fiction writing. More than 4 million listeners tune in each week.
His Minnesota mother was a strict member of a fundamentalist group who did not think highly of "dancing, drinking, card playing ... and too friendly association with nonbelievers." That being so, Keillor grew up listening to inspirational speeches and "town folk" philosophy — which is where many of his ideals come from.
He received his bachelor's at the University of Minnesota and began his life long radio career on Minnesota public radio.
Aside from his variety shows and books on his homegrown Lake Wobegon, Keillor also writes regularly for Time, Salon.com and The New Yorker.
For those interested in hearing more about Wobegon life from a longtime veteran of radio, Keillor will speak at a noontime lecture on April 18th at New York University.