The light bulb is out and needs changing

I flew into New York last week, descending over the East River onto LaGuardia, and outside Baggage Claim I was surprised to find men and women in official yellow vests guiding us tourists toward the taxi stand, helping with luggage, saying, “Welcome to New York” and “Thanks for using LaGuardia” and “Enjoy the city.” This is not the New York that we Minnesotans expect to find, but thank goodness the cabdrivers are still genuine New York cabdrivers, surly, scrappy, contemptuous of the stupidity all around them.

In Minneapolis, the cabdriver who drove me to the airport told me, without prompting, about his brief career as a guitarist in a band, his failed marriage, the difficulty of getting back to music. Call me a cynic but it struck me as a plea for a big tip, which I, a Minnesotan, duly gave him. In New York, no cabdriver would take that tack. He is a fighter who will get you from the airport to the Upper West Side five minutes faster than anyone else could.

New York is a good place to visit when you feel the country is falling apart. On the island of Manhattan, high-rises keep rising, water mains break, rush hour is crazy, you can’t help but feel the fragility of the complexity of the place and yet people cope. They cram into subway cars and find privacy in a book or a pair of headphones. I sat next to a woman once who, I swear, was listening to Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” while looking at a solid wall of people’s legs and rear ends. Everywhere, you see the resilience of the human spirit.

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Fundraiser for the Woman's Club of Minneapolis

Heart Songs: Garrison Keillor, Maria Jette, Dan Chouinard

“Now that we are a certain age and no longer need to be cool, we’re able to openly love certain things that, in our youthful sophistication, we had to keep secret. Maudlin ballads like ‘Poor Babes In The Woods,’ songs of undying love, ‘Love’s Old Sweet Song,’ poetry that is not allusive or surreal but comes right out and says what it has to say.” -Garrison Keillor

Garrison Keillor joins forces with opera soprano Maria Jette and versatile pianist Dan Chouinard to raise money for renovations to the historic theater at The Woman’s Club of Minneapolis. The Club is celebrating its recent award of $90,670 from Partners in Preservation’s Main Street Grant for significant landmarks in the history of women’s suffrage. Keillor, Jette, and Chouinard’s concert of love songs spanning the eras will take place in the 1928 theater, with the chance to enjoy dinner in the Clubhouse beforehand. Proceeds will help support phase one of the renovations: repairs to the floor, new seating, and changes to make the theater ADA-compliant.

PS: The President's Room at the Woman's Club of Minneapolis has served as the office space for Garrison Keillor and Prairie Home Productions since early last year!
 

The Woman's Club of Minneapolis
Saturday, February 29, 2020
6:00 p.m. dinner; 8:00 p.m. show

Dinner & Show: $250 ($150 tax-deductible)
Show Only: $100 main floor; $75 balcony

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Billy Collins

How many of you love Billy Collins? Billy has said that if it weren't for The Writer's Almanac and its mission to celebrate poetry, he would be doing readings in church basements (we doubt that very much). He is a good friend of the program and we look forward to bringing you some of his new poetry this year! If you'd like to subscribe to The Writer's Almanac and receive great poetry every morning, scroll down to the bottom of this email and click "update your preferences."
 

Billy Collins on Writing:
TWA:  Do you have a certain place you write, a favorite desk? Does it face a window or wall? What time of day do you like to write? Do you prefer silence or some sort of ambient noise as you concentrate?

BC: I write anywhere. I don’t require a scented candle or a favorite cardigan. I can write on a train or in Yankee stadium. When it comes, it comes. Of course, I can enjoy a long train ride and extra innings in the Bronx without writing a thing.

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Billy Collins on Living with Limericks:
"Leave it to Garrison Keillor, America's favorite storyteller, to smuggle into a seemingly innocent collection of limericks the story of his life. Mixed in with his fascination with one of the oldest (yet least respected) poetic forms is a straightforward, unabashed autobiography. Lift the mask off the man from Nantucket, and there's the author himself...from Minnesota! The result is an inventive pastiche, which entertains, charms, reveals, then entertains some more." 

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Songs of the Cat

A catalogue of categorically fun songs! Garrison Keillor joins German opera superstar Frederica Von Stade for 16 tunes celebrating one of Garrison’s favorite subjects, cats. Feel-good feline tracks include “Eine Kleine Kat,” “Cat, You Better Come Home,” and the fan favorite and public radio classic “The In and Out Song.” You’ll be catatonic with laughter. 60 minutes.

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The Writer's Almanac Mug

A new mug for a new year! This mug features the show logo on one side and Garrison's signature sign-off on the other A perfect companion in the morning for your daily dose of poetry and coffee!

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