Interview with Mr. Keillor

[spicedogs]

 I am a great fan of Garrison Keillor. I became his fan in 1984 when I went to the library and took out the first book he has ever written: Happy to Be Here.  It was a book of essays that he wrote, and I feel in love with his writing. (I practically own everybook he ever wrote.) Also, later on, I found out that he has a radio show named "A Prairie Home Companion." I became an avid listener from that moment on.

I listened to the show faithfully every Saturday evening, exchanging tapes with other listeners for those episodes that I missed. I heard nothing but nice things about him. There was an incident when a person, who later became a friend of mine, went to see him live, and wanted to repurchase a certain album of 4 tapes that GK had put out. Apparently, one of the tapes was eaten by his tape player. He was told to contact us (the forum of tape exchangers) and have one of us tape it for him. GK's policy was  was not to make money off of people who already bought his stuff. He didn't mind the bootlegging of recorded material that was going on on the Internet. We were shocked to know that he knew of our existence.

Later on, Keillor did some online chat with us. I was one of the chosen ones to correspond with him. He was so nice and polite to all of us. His Web site was a result of many of our inputs. 

So, anyway, I am posting here an interview that was done in 2007. It is a bit old, but not outdated. I am putting it here, because stuff like this tends to disappear off of the Internet. I want to preserve it. You are welcome to read it if you'd like to.

interview with mr. keillor

Just as I did with the Jesse Ball interview I've decided to include an artist's rendition of the interviewed. Once again, I apologize to the readers and Mr. Keillor himself as I still only had a few dollars to pay for the drawing as evidenced with the finished portrait.

For those who don't know who Garrison Keillor is I will refrain from mocking you and calling out your stupidity. Instead, I've chosen to include this brief bio of Mr. Keillor. Mr. Keillor was born in Lake Wobegon, Minnesota. His favorite toy was a wooden teddy bear. By age 17 he orchestrated his first radio program to a pair of aunts and his uncle. This eventually led to a grand career mumbling over the airwaves. Once he wrote to the New Yorker and they said, "Gary, you write mighty fine."

Every Day Yeah: One of your characters ends up wrecking his marriage (admittedly, it was never that great) because he falls in love with a porn star and writes them a letter. Is this something that you've ever done? I'm not talking about destroying marriages or getting sucked into exorbitant phone bills because someone seduces you. No, I was more or less wondering if you've been inspired to send a random hello to a girl from the pornography films.

Garrison Keillor: I never felt close to a porn star. Those enormous inflated breasts do not somehow interest me. The sort of porn I’d like would involve girls who look just like girls I knew in high school, big legs, flat chests, dark bobbed hair, plaid skirts, and horn rim glasses. Girls who were active in Future Homemakers of America and able to crank out a good tuna noodle casserole and a banana cream pie. Not many of those in the skin trade. But if there were, say, a movie called “4-H Sluts” in which girls who make all their own clothes take off their clothes, I would write them fan mail. Yes, I would. I wouldn’t tell you about it, but I would be their loyal fan.

EDY: I see on the book jacket of Pontoon there is a picture of you wearing red Sauconys and a suit. Is this your preferred footwear and do you favor a comfortable shoe in lieu of a dress shoe?

GK: I put in many painful years with wingtips, big brown brogans that made me feel like a Clydesdale, and back in my bohemian days I even wore enormous boots that bit me every time I took a step. They were expensive hand-made leather, which connotes quality, doesn’t it, but they weighed about ten pounds apiece and hurt like crazy. The bright red tennies are luxurious, roomy, light, and you can spot them right away in the closet.

EDY: What did you eat the last time you were at Perkins?

GK: A strawberry cream pie and I was with elderly relatives who’ve all died since then. They loved Perkins, especially the desserts, and I certainly loved my old aunts and uncles, but now I think of the place as a holding area for people about to take the boat across the big river, if you get my drift. I go to coffee shops where young people go and I eat bran muffins and drink gallons of latte.

EDY: Do you feel Perkins is greatest American invention in the last 50 year? If not, what is?

GK: The Internet, of course. Perkins isn’t an invention, it’s just a brand name.

EDY: If an angel of death visited you as you were answering this question, what would you say?

GK: Git. Scram. Got no time for you now. Go get a young writer in Boston and leave me alone.

EDY: Is this the story where Google has made an appearance at Lake Wobegon? How tough is it to incorporate the changes of the world into this fictional place? Will it be a significant moment the first time an ipod appears or do you view such invasions as a form of terrorism? (answer any of these, I apologize for putting three questions into one.)

GK: Google is a simple part of everyday life, nothing rarefied or urban or hip about it. It’s simply a useful tool. When information needs to be found, an author saves his readers a lot of time by having a character sit down at the keyboard and google. Nothing tough about that at all. The iPod, on the other hand, doesn’t have much place in a novel. You put plugs in somebody’s ears, he thereby becomes oblivious. A person with an iPod is inevitably a figure of scorn in a novel. Dense, clueless.

EDY: Lindsey Lohan was in your movie and you mention her briefly in Pontoon, how good of friends are you with her?

GK: We don’t really know each other. If she were driving along Sunset Boulevard and saw me walking, she would not stop and roll down her window and yell, “Garrison!” I can practically guarantee it. E

DY: And lastly, I might have missed it, but why was Mr. Hoppe in a Viking outfit? If it is from an earlier story don't bother to answer. I will eventually find the answer when I read those books.

GK: He was the Grand Oya of the Sons of Knute, the grand poobah of a Norwegian lodge, and so the horned helmet, the cape, the sword, the sash with the badges, were all part of his official regalia.

note: I would just like to say the views of Garrison Keillor are his own. Just because he doesn't feel that Perkins isn't the greatest invention of the last fifty years doesn't mean that everydayyeah.com agrees with these beliefs.

Questions and answers gathered by Mark Baumer. And once again he was the one who butchered the artwork.

This interview took place back in September 2007 and originally ran on Boston's The Weekly Dig website in a reduced format. I figure if Mr. Keillor took the time to answer all the following questions then the world should have access to them all.

SOURCE: Everyday Yeah

Comments

[divka.livejournal.com]

So, have you gone out to his Wolf Trap shows? We went to the live-recording one last year. Very fun, although...man, was it hot.

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

I went to 2 of his Wolf-Trap shows and one concert with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in Baltimore. He is a gracious man. He takes time to answer your questions, autograph your program and/or books, and poses with you for pictures.

I wanted to go this year, but it was sold out by the time I went to get the tickets.

"There's always next year."

[divka.livejournal.com]

We thought about going again this year, but the memories of last year's heat is still too fresh in our minds.

Maybe by the next time he comes around I will have forgotten about how sweaty I was and only remember what a good time it was. We'll see.

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

Were you on the lawn? I always sat inside and it was not that bad.

[divka.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we were on the lawn. Because I'm a cheap-ass ;p

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

No wonder that it was hot. I once was able to get tickets for the second row, smack in the middle. Kristin Chenoweth was one of the guests. I simply adore her, and it was so nice to look right into her blue eyes.