Today, August 7, is Garrison Keillor’s 73rd birthday.
Mr. Keillor is the creator of the fictional town of Lake Wobegon (“Where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.”), and the host of the long-running radio program “A Prairie Home Companion.” Mr. Keillor has announced that this coming season of APHC will be his final one before retirement.
When a man has spent his life authoring books, creating poetry and hosting a widely celebrated variety show on public radio, he ends up with a mountain of quotables that people love repeating.
Some of my favorite Keillor-isms:
- “Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a purpose.”
- “One reads books in order to gain the privilege of living more than one life. People who don’t read are trapped in a mine shaft, even if they think the sun is shining.”
- “Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known. ”
- “Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.”
I enjoy listening to Mr. Keillor’s reflections on American Christianity, particularly his comedic analysis of the Lutheranism of his Midwestern roots. There’s always a strong aroma of Mark Twain in such pieces, and if you enjoy that kind of thing, that you should check out his Life Among the Lutherans.
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