Keillor looking forward to Dallas book stop, with an eye on Wobegon - and Sarah Palin

[spicedogs]

I found a great interview with Garrison Keillor. He touches upon his differences with Dallas that stemmed from the critical article that he wrote back in 2006. (I have posted that article here for those of you who are interested enough to read the whole article. Here’s a small excerpt of his article for those of you who don’t like to read extensive essays:

 

I got some insight week before last into who supports torture when I went down to Dallas to speak at Highland Park Methodist Church. It was spooky. I walked in, was met by two burly security men with walkie-talkies, and within 10 minutes was told by three people that this was the Bushes' church and that it would be better if I didn't talk about politics. I was there on a book tour for Homegrown Democrat, but they thought it better if I didn't mention it. So I tried to make light of it: I told the audience, "I don't need to talk politics. I have no need even to be interested in politics - I'm a citizen, I have plenty of money and my grandsons are at least 12 years away from being eligible for military service." And the audience applauded! Those were their sentiments exactly. We've got ours, and who cares? The Methodists of Dallas can be fairly sure that none of them will be snatched off the streets, flown to Guantanamo, stripped naked, forced to stand for 48 hours in a freezing room with deafening noise, so why should they worry? It's only the Jews who are in danger, and the homosexuals and gypsies. The Christians are doing just fine. If you can't trust a Methodist with absolute power to arrest people and not have to say why, then whom can you trust?

 

 

Getting back to the interview, he gives a nice shoutout to recent reading (I don’t know why he called it a reading, he didn’t read and he didn’t talk about his book, he just plainly entertained us) at the National Cathedral in Washington, in which I, my hubby,divka ,happyfeet96 , and katje0711  had the pleasure to attend. (By the way, in case you didn’t notice, I placed you all in alpha order.)

 

12:00 AM CDT on Tuesday, October 7, 2008

 By MICHAEL GRANBERRY / The Dallas Morning News
mgranberry@dallasnews.com

 Garrison Keillor is a force of nature. How else can one explain a 66-year-old who has remained on the air for 35 years as host of a single program, A Prairie Home Companion, heard locally on KERA-FM (90.1)?

He is the author of nearly a dozen books as well as hundreds of magazine articles. He is fiercely outspoken, overtly political and sweetly nostalgic. That outspoken side surfaced after a 2006 appearance at Highland Park United Methodist Church. His sharply critical newspaper column about how the evening went bruised more than a few feelings.

But Mr. Keillor is coming back, to promote Liberty, his latest work of fiction. He answered questions last week in an e-mail exchange.

 Forgive me, but we have to bring it up. After you were here the last time, a bit of a flap ensued. Two years later, what's your reaction to those developments?
What I remember is a big Methodist church and an auditorium full of people, and a couple of large security men who stood close to me as I signed books. It made me feel like Bonnie and Clyde. Or anyway Clyde. It's so seldom that large uniformed men with sidearms stand next to me as I sign books, so it was memorable. I'm just an old Northern Democrat, and I travel unarmed myself, and I guess they thought I needed help.

 It's the wonderful aspect of book tours – you never know what you'll find. I just did a reading at the National Cathedral in Washington, which has a wonderful echo and you can hear what you said a moment ago even as you are saying something else. I look forward to Dallas. 

You're now in your 35th year of A Prairie Home Companion. What are the challenges of keeping such a quality show on the air for so long?
The old challenge is to see the audience listening at home and talk to them and not just go through the motions. They're people who put in a good week of hard work, and some of them are in trouble and the others are on the verge, and they deserve something good, so the producer of the show (that's me) has to be a nag and a noodge and tell people what to do. 

A critic wrote recently that "Keillor has the ability to relate to the values left in rural America." But much of rural America, as we know so well this time of year, is found in the so-called "red" states. Do you feel you relate to those people? Aren't they the ones who helped George Bush ascend to the White House?
I don't claim to relate to rural values, but I do relate to the stories of rural people who've drifted into the city and who, whether they thrive there or not, have twinges of longing and a feeling of displacement. I love cities. I have since I was a kid. I love the anonymity of them, the beauty of libraries and theaters and parks and nighttime streets and people out walking. I'm a storyteller and the values belong to the characters, I just say where they go and what they do. 

You recently went to Fairbanks, Alaska, so I'm dying to ask: What are your thoughts about the Alaska governor being a vice presidential candidate?
She [Sarah Palin] seems spectacularly unequipped. If your doctor talked like her, you'd get a new doctor. If she were your kid's teacher, you'd switch schools. She seems uninterested in the idea of reasoned analysis of problems. But there are plenty of people who prefer that our leaders be no smarter than anybody else, and we shall see if they prevail again this year. 

The critical response to Liberty has been good. Does that matter to you, and how long do you think you'll be able to keep returning to Lake Wobegon for material?
I don't read reviews or anything else written about me, on the advice of Chet Atkins years ago, who said, "No matter how nice a review is, there's going to be one sentence in there that bothers you for days." He was so right. My family reads the reviews, though, and a good review cheers them up and makes them think I haven't fallen apart yet. As for Lake Wobegon, it is a deep well and I'm launched on a new book with a fine sense of fresh discovery, like a dog in the woods in April.


Garrison Keillor will speak at 7 tonight at Unity Church of Dallas, 6525 Forest Lane. $10 suggested donation. Tickets at 972-233-7106, ext. 6

More Keillor: Read a review of Liberty, and share your thoughts about him, at www.guidelive.com/ texaspages.


 

 Source: Guidelive.com

 

 

Comments

[miss-sophia.livejournal.com]

I love what he said about Palin and Americans wanting to vote for people no smarter than them. OK, I'm starting to appreciate this guy. Still don't think I quite get the whole small-town American deal, but I can appreciate his non-Lake-Wobegon observations. :)