Just heard about Garrison Keillor’s recent retirement from A Prairie Home Companion. He actually did so as well back in 1987, but over the next several years he gave in, bit by bit, to his audience’s demands until the show returned in its full reincarnation in 1994. Now that he is 72 years old, however, it seems likely that this departure will be permanent, so a brief reminiscence is in order.
In May 2000, Keillor brought Prairie Home to Redding, CA during one of his many road tours. I was able to score a pair of premium tickets, which not only provided good seats but also invitations to a reception afterward. I’d heard that Keillor had hoped to get Merle Haggard onto the show but had to settle for Ramblin’ Jack Elliot instead. I don’t remember a lot about the show, though you can actually hear it in full on the website:
http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/programs/20000520/
After the show, my wife and I made our way over to the Redding Civic Center where the reception was held. Within a few minutes, Keillor showed up, looking enormous in his black tuxedo, to greet visitors and sign autographs. When it was my turn, having thought carefully about what I wanted to say, I asked him if he remembered a story, The Poetry Judge, that he’d written for The Atlantic a few years back. “Yes,” he said, raising his eyebrows at what was apparently an unexpected question. I assured him that I liked the piece, and he proceeded for a minute or two to describe how he’d come to write it, including the poems that he’d interspersed through the text. I don’t remember much of what he said, because all I could think about was that the rich baritone voice that I had heard for close to two decades on the radio was in my presence and addressing me personally. It was an overwhelming sensory experience, and the only comparison I can imagine would be if Bing Crosby were to approach you at a party to sing a few bars of White Christmas. My wife got a picture of the encounter (unfortunately non-digital), and I had a dreamy half-smile on my face that was similar to what Reagan biographer Edmund Morris once described as typical of people who visited the Oval Office to see the President. I was very much the fanboy that day, but everyone is entitled to slobber over their heroes at least once.
Keillor apparently has numerous post-retirement plans, including a Washington Post column, another book, and a solo tour. It will be interesting to see how he responds to his newfound freedom from what had likely become an artistically constraining environment at Prairie Home. Maybe he still has some delightful surprises in store for us.
– Chuck Strom
