GARRISON KEILLOR

First a quick foot note regarding yesterdays post.. Hadn't thought of Robert in years but after the post, I decided to Google him.





According to Forbes, in 2008, Robert was CEO of a manufacturing company as well as director of an investment firm. His annual salary, including options exercised, totaled just over $1.5 million. Guess he gave up pimping. Hope I had something to do with that.





Now on to Garrison.




I am a huge fan of Garrison Keillor and if you are not familiar with him, I hope you will give him a try. He writes here and has a radio show on NPR (National Public Radio) which can be listened to here. I can't get NPR where I am now so I do visit this site. His stories of Lake Wobegon( the little town that time forgot and the decades cannot improve), are wonderful if you like storytelling. He is a master. There are occasional knee slappers in his stories, but mostly you enjoy warm chuckles, broad smiles and head bobs.

His weekly radio program is The Prairie Home Companion (a variety show) which almost has a cult following. I used to cheat and only listen for "It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon..." before I gave full attention.. The program was OK but the monologues were the draw for me. His stories of " Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking and all the children are above average",are both funny and dear.

I discovered him one evening in Florida as I was driving home from town (long drive). It was late and rapidly turning dark. I was surfing the radio stations when a deep baritone voice spoke to me. Just recently I had read about this man in a magazine and was curious, so I tuned him in. Garrison tells stories in what he refers to as his "funereal" tone of voice. It is soothing and compelling at the same time.

I can't remember the exact story he told that night but for 30 minutes he totally captivated me. Darkness completely closed in and it was just he and I traveling that lonely road, isolated from the rest of the world and cozy in the car. Not wanting to break the spell, I drove right past my road and he talked me into another town.

Well I was hooked so I became a regular listener, bought tapes of old shows and read each of his best selling books. When I moved here, I was crushed that I could no longer listen to him live. I was thrilled however, when I discovered his program site on the Net last year. We are together again.

Garrison is a rabid Democrat that I mostly agree with. He is the salve I apply when scorched by Ann Coulter or Rush Limbaugh.

These are some of my favorite Garrison quotes.

Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a purpose.

I believe in looking reality straight in the eye and denying it.

It's a shallow life that doesn't give a person a few scars.

They say such nice things about people at their funerals that it
makes me sad that I'm going to miss mine by just a few days.

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.

Vodka is tasteless going down, but it is memorable coming up.

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Well I have talked my self into a dose of Garrison.

Hope you enjoy him like I do.