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Garrison Keillor and Friends is an online newsletter (delivered directly to your laptop, phone, whatever). You’ll get Garrison’s weekly column, Post to the Host (plus a few extra posts each week), and some of GK’s past published pieces — classic Lake Wobegon monologues, limericks, old jokes, verse, and who knows what else.

And for a small monthly fee, you’ll have access to The Back Room (also on Substack), where you’ll discover interviews with favorite poets, video clips, even a sneak peek at serialized chapters from GK’s books before they are published — your comments welcome.

P.S. For now, the Wednesday email newsletter you’re used to will still be there. And at this time, there is no change to the Writer’s Almanac newsletter.
 

My plan for the future, whenever it happens

Spring is here, the park is gloriously in bloom, and I sit on a sunny bench watching the young on the running path, working hard out of their fear of mortality, and I feel the great privilege of being in my late seventies, all my ambition gone, enjoying life itself, not aiming for distinguishment. All those decades I tried to be intelligent, to be in the know and to maintain a cool sense of irony, an elegant detachment from the mundane, and now that rock-climb is over: it takes no effort whatsoever to be an old man. You sit in the park and savor your happiness and let the young do the suffering.

I enjoy writing more now than I ever used to. I have writer friends my age who’ve been stuck for decades because they once published a book that was greeted by heavyweight critics as “provocative and profound,” “unflinching,” “bold and riveting,” “dense and dazzling,” “lushly layered,” “exceptional,” and “exquisitely crafted,” so now they look at a first draft and there’s nothing exquisite and it makes them flinch — you get put on a high pedestal and it’s a long way down. But nobody ever accused me of exquisiteness, the most I ever got was “amusing yet often poignant.” That’s not a pedestal, it’s a low curb. So I write freely, happily, no looking back.

Now that we’re vaccinated, I’m trying to talk my sweetie into taking a long car trip and head west since heading east from Manhattan takes you into deep water, and enjoy a month or two of dedicated aimlessness. So many of my well-laid plans have gone astray so I’d like to try improvisation. Just get in the car and go.

Read the rest of the column>>>

Posts to the Host

(In reference to your column “A walk around the Central Park Reservoir“ April 14, 2021)


In your column “A walk around the Central Park Reservoir,” you quote Russell Baker on falling potato events:

“It is such a rare event that the odds against being involved in two during one lifetime are overwhelming. Hence, it is as close to statistical certainty as a thing can be that falling potato will not be the instrument of my farewell.”

The last sentence does not follow from the first. It would for you or me, because we have not been involved in one such event. But Baker had. So the correct odds against his being involved in two are the “conditional odds of being involved in two GIVEN that he has already been involved in one.” Unless his near miss has led him to take extra precautions, these odds will be the same as for you and me being involved in ONE event, not two. 

In fact, Baker’s odds might be a bit higher since his false reasoning might lead him to think he’s safe, and thus to reject even the simple precautions we might take.

There’s some irony here. In his interview with Adrienne LaFrance, also on Google, he indulges in a little self-praise: “I’m one of those awful people who’s looking for flaws. ... (and) spots them right away. ... You try to make an argument to me, I immediately will spot the flaw in it.”   
Well — he was an English major, poor chap.
Allan Stewart-Oaten
 
I want to think you’re wrong, Allan, but you speak with such self-assurance that I buy your reasoning. This is a weakness of mine and it got me into one mistaken marriage and also two bad real-estate investments. But I am taking extra precautions against falling potatoes while I’m in New York by (1) taking cabs with roofs and (2) taking walks in Central Park where the chance of a Canada goose dropping a potato seems remote enough that a man need not think about it and can enjoy watching the motorized bikes go whizzing past. 
GK
 

Dear Mr. Keillor,
I enjoyed your column concerning the recent walk through Central Park you took, seeing children play. You made a remark that seemed off. You equated a person saying firing an AK-47 at 60 rounds per second is fun with being part of a lunatic fringe. Have you fired a firearm? It can be fun. Even when I was required to go to military training ranges, I found the actual firing of my assigned firearm to be fun. Cleaning it afterward was far less fun, but it came with the territory. Sometimes, our military unit would bring too much ammunition to the range. When that happened, we were authorized to fire our weapons an extra time on full automatic, just to familiarize on how that works. And going through an entire 30-round magazine in .5 seconds was fun. If you get the chance to visit a range, you may find it really is fun to fire a firearm. And that would not put you into the lunatic fringe at all.
Jonathan
 
I’ve never fired anything more lethal than a BB gun and it doesn’t appear to me that I will, in my twilight years, find my way to a firing range and shoot an AK-47. I don’t disagree with you, you write a perfectly intelligent letter, but if I were to take up the AK-47 at the age of 78 and get a big thrill from it, my wife would think this was lunacy and frankly I get more fun from being in her company than shooting 60 rounds per second. But I’m glad you wrote. You’re the only gunner I know. Take care, sir.
GK
 

Sorry, oh most beloved one, but you got one fact wrong in your April 14 essay. George Custer probably rode his horse, Dandy, down into the valley of death. The famous horse that survived, Comanche, belonged to Captain Myles Keogh. Just a little thing ... I have LOVED your writings and your humor and your eyebrows over the years but, as a Custer history buff (doesn’t make him my hero, just interested in what happened out here in Wyoming where I live), I had to let you know.
Margie Brazelton
 
Just more proof, Margie, that wrong information is readily available on the internet. I have friends who are passionate fact-checkers, and they tell me that even famous newspapers are slipping slowly into semi-fiction. I’ve been in fiction for years, so it doesn’t bother me to be wrong so long as I’m wrong in an interesting way. I think Comanche is a much more interesting name for the horse Custer rode into the Little Big Horn. Dandy sounds more like a child’s pony. But I yield to you. Thanks for the note.
GK

P.S. Another reader, Rodney Vaccarro, disagrees. He wrote to say: “Comanche belonged to Captain Myles Keogh, a fascinating, Irish soldier-of-fortune who had fought in armies across the western world for most of his life before hooking up with Custer as a senior officer. I believe Keogh, prior to falling, led a skirmish line that was probably the last, organized effort by the 7th on that fateful day. Custer had two of his horses with him on that campaign ... Vic and Dandy and he rode Vic into the final battle.”   


In your posting of April 14, you write, “We gave you Bob Dylan who gave you ‘The Times, They Are A-Changin’’ — which is true except in some places like Central Park, the 19th century’s gift to us and these children and their children too.”
 
Which raises a question that I have wanted to ask Garrison for a long time: Why was Dylan never on PHC? Was Bob too busy? Held a grudge for some of the impersonations of his singing? I thought a great Last Show would have had him teaming up with that other famous Minnesotan singing “Girl from the North Country” (though his duet with Johnny Cash did not come out too well).
Sean
 
We held a number of Bob Impersonation contests at PHC over the years and it was astounding how good most of them were. Rich Dworsky does a great one, so does Fred Newman and Tim Russell, but even teenage boys would get up and nail Bob’s “Blowin’ In The Wind” — he’s irresistible. As for Bob himself, well, the man is more like a religious cult than mere singer, and he’s famous for not talking to the audience, and on radio, refusal to talk seems like an insult. So he traveled his road and we traveled ours and I admire him, especially “Girl from the North Country” and “Duquesne Whistle,” early and late Dylan. I hope he stays out on the road as long as he likes.
GK

For your entertainment

As concerts and performances begin to start up again, we have been checking in with guest performers who have graced the A Prairie Home Companion stage to see what they have been up to and what they are most looking forward to — and asking if they have any concert plans or new projects. This is in addition to our featuring a classic A Prairie Home Companion show from the archive. Over 10,000 musical guests performed on A Prairie Home Companion over 43 years with Garrison, so we know there are some gems that you will want to hear. We hope you tune in with us on Saturday evenings. The link will be posted to our Facebook page at 5 p.m. CT each week.

A Prairie Home Companion — April 24, 1999:
A Prairie Home Companion travels back to 1999 with a memorable show from Northrop Auditorium on the campus of the University of Minnesota — with poet Robert Bly and the 17-member group ¡Cubanismo! Also with us, Prairie Home Music Director Richard Dworsky and the house band, the Royal Academy of Radio Actors (Tim Russell, Sue Scott, Fred Newman), and the latest News from Lake Wobegon.

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Listen to the Show>>>

Erica Rhodes:

A Prairie Home Companion fans are familiar with the comedy stylings of Erica Rhodes since she made her debut on A Prairie Home Companion at age 10. She claims the experience of performing on the show over the years prepared her for a life in stand-up. Over the pandemic, she wrote and performed virtual concerts while awaiting the return of live, in-person shows. The results of this work can be seen in her new stand-up comedy show La Vie en Rhodes, where she performed a socially distanced show, all recorded and filmed live, delivered from a drive-in theater. Her first full-length special is available for your listening or viewing pleasure. She took the time to answer a few questions about the special, her comedy brand, some advice to young performers, plus some PHC memories (along with a few videos).

Read our guest interview >>>
Watch “La Vie En Rhodes” Preview >>>
Get “La Vie En Rhodes” >>>
Visit her Facebook page >>>

Dakota Dave Hull:

Enjoy the old standard “The Way You Look Tonight” as well as updates as to his performance schedule, Facebook live sessions and more within our guest profile about longtime favorite Dakota Dave Hull. 

Listen to “The Way You Look Tonight” >>>
Check out the interview >>>

Dan Newton:
Dan Newton spent a lot of time going through old compositions he had forgotten and eventually recorded an album of solo original instrumentals in his living room. Find out details about the album plus what else he was up to during the pandemic lockdown and his excitement about performing live again soon. 

 Read our guest profile >>>
Listen to “Salsipuedes” >>>

Sarah Jarosz:
Sarah Jarosz presents a special two-show livestream experience. She says, “For the first show, on April 29th, I will perform my Grammy-winning album World on the Ground in its entirety. This will be my first full-band show since the album was released last year. My dear friend, and producer of the album, John Leventhal will be joining me along with Mike Robinson, John Fatum, and Dave Speranza.” Second show is May 9th.

 Get livestream info >>>

A few words about Walter Mondale

The Walter Mondale I knew was the one known to all Minnesotans, a kind and jovial and honest man who told the truth as politics was heading into a dark dishonest time. I saw him last a couple years ago at a benefit for an organization his son Bill supported, that worked with young people in Mexico, and Walter sat in the front row, grinning, enjoying himself, but now I realize, reading the Times obituary, that I didn't know him very well. "He was jocular and self-deprecating in private, even a bit off-color when making fun of himself," said the Times and I'm sorry I didn't get to see that, nor did I ever see him smoke a cigar, which the Times said he enjoyed. It also said he loved Monty Python and Coen Brothers movies. Amazing. A Mondale I never knew. Good for him, to have had a rich interesting private life and keep it private. And he accepted death as an ordinary event, saw it coming, wrote a sweet farewell to his old staff and allies, talked to Carter and Biden and Kamala Harris on the phone over the weekend, and then died. Done. Thank you, Walter, for all you meant to us over the years.

Garrison had the opportunity to interview Walter Mondale at the Fitzgerald Theater in 2010 upon the release of his book 'The Good Fight: A Life in Liberal Politics.'  

Listen to the interview >>>

The Writer's Almanac

It’s April, National Poetry Month, and we hope you’ll celebrate by supporting The Writer’s Almanac. Your donation will help us to continue producing the program through December, maybe beyond that.
 
Contributions from people like you is the primary way we cover our program costs: research, audio recording and editing, payments to poets, and more.
 
After many inquiries about thank-you gifts, here’s ours: if you Donate $100 during April, you’ll receive a Pop Socket for your phone, which is the most popular way to listen to the daily podcast. Donations of any amount will receive a discount code for 25% off any items in our online store. Thank you so much for listening!

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A NOTE ABOUT OUR CD PRODUCTION

That Time of Year by Garrison Keillor