Happy 75th Birthday, Garrison Keillor!

“Librarians, Dusty, possess a vast store of politeness. These are people who get asked regularly the dumbest questions on God's green earth. These people tolerate every kind of crank and eccentric and mouth-breather there is. "—Garrison Keillor, “Cowboy Librarians" skit on A Prairie Home Companion, December 13, 1997

Well, it wasn’t enough that Garrison Keillor—born 75 years ago today in Anoka, Minn.— is a radio legend. No, I also see, from the above quote, that he has a very healthy appreciation of librarians. And, judging by the number of his books on shelves in my neck of the woods, I’d say that the admiration is mutual.

Oh, and one other thing: Keillor had the smarts to lead the movement to rename the World Theater in St. Paul, Minn., after my favorite author, hometown boy F. Scott Fitzgerald—and he broadcast his radio show A Prairie Home Companion for nearly 40 years in this performance venue before retiring a year ago.

Quote of the Day (Garrison Keillor, on a Politician Without a Grin)

“You never see this in an elected official: smarm is the norm; a politician without a grin is like a pitcher without a change-up.” —Garrison Keillor, “Alaska Melancholy:Trying to Ignore the Campaign, But Dogged by the Candidates,” Chicago Tribune, Aug. 24, 2016

(Garrison Keillor pictured here during a rainy 2007 outdoor broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion.)

Quote of the Day (Garrison Keillor, on Luck)

“Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have got it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known.” —Garrison Keillor, Lake Wobegon Days (1985)

Thanks for the memories, Mr. Keillor, as you depart A Prairie Home Companion.

Quote of the Day (Garrison Keillor, on What ‘You Do for Children’)

“Nothing you do for children is ever wasted. They seem not to notice us, hovering, averting our eyes, and they seldom offer thanks, but what we do for them is never wasted.” —Garrison Keillor, Leaving Home‎ (1987)

Quote of the Day (Garrison Keillor, on How to Survive a Minnesota Winter)

“Get out of the car and brave the elements. Feel the wind on your skin; feel the mucus freeze in your nostrils. You will not need a signal beacon, compass, rappelling rope, fire-starting kit, any of that. If Minnesotans see you trembling and whimpering on the sidewalk, they will rush to your assistance. The rescue urge is strong here: Sneeze three times in a row, and you’ll be set upon by burly EMTs who will lash you to a gurney, take your blood pressure, start an IV, and blow your nose.”— Garrison Keillor, “Isn’t Winter Great? Garrison Keillor Thinks So,” Reader’s Digest, February 2015

Quote of the Day (Garrison Keillor, on How Writers ‘Are Vacuum Cleaners’’)

“Over the years, my relatives have been cautious about sharing details of family history with me, knowing the business I'm in, knowing that writers are vacuum cleaners who suck up other people's lives and weave them into stories like a sparrow builds a nest from scraps. People meet writers and are bowled over when the writer is friendly to them and invites them to his house for a glass of wine or to shoot up heroin or whatever they do, and they talk their heads off, and a year later it comes out in a book, and there follow years of bitter and fruitless litigation, and that is why you should always keep a writer at arm's length.” ―"Longtime "Prairie Home Companion" radio host (and novelist) Garrison Keillor, “Clearing Up a Few Things,” Time Magazine, March 28, 2004

 
(Garrison Keillor pictured here during a rainy 2007 outdoor broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion.)