View source for Garrison Keillor

{{Short description|American author, storyteller, humorist, voice actor, and radio personality (born 1942)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2013}}
{{Infobox comedian
| name              = Garrison Keillor
| image             = GKpress.jpg
| caption           = Keillor in 2009
| birth_name        = Gary Edward Keillor
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|1942|08|07}}
| birth_place       = [[Anoka, Minnesota]], U.S.
| death_date        =
| death_place       =
| medium            = {{hlist|Radio|print|film}}
| active            = 1969–present
| genre             = {{hlist|[[Observational humor|Observational comedy]]|storytelling}}
| subject           = {{hlist|[[Culture of the United States|American culture]] (particularly [[Midwestern United States#Culture|the Midwest]])|[[Politics of the United States|American politics]]}}
| alma_mater        = 
| spouse            = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Mary Guntzel|1965|1976|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Ulla Skaerved|1985|1990|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Jenny Lind Nilsson|1995}}
}}
| signature         =
| website           = {{URL|garrisonkeillor.com}}
| children         = 2
|education=[[University of Minnesota]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])}}

'''Gary Edward''' "'''Garrison'''" '''Keillor''' ({{IPAc-en|'|k|iː|l|ər}}; born August 7, 1942) is an American author, singer, [[humorist]], voice actor, and radio personality. He created the [[Minnesota Public Radio]] (MPR) show ''[[A Prairie Home Companion]]'' (called ''Garrison Keillor's Radio Show'' in some international syndication), which he hosted from 1974 to 2016. Keillor created the fictional Minnesota town [[Lake Wobegon]], the setting of many of his books, including ''[[Lake Wobegon Days]] ''and ''[[Leaving Home: A Collection of Lake Wobegon Stories]]''. Other creations include [[Guy Noir]], a detective voiced by Keillor who appeared in ''A Prairie Home Companion'' comic skits. Keillor is also the creator of the five-minute daily radio/podcast program ''[[The Writer's Almanac]]'', which pairs poems of his choice with a script about important literary, historical, and scientific events that coincided with that date in history.

In November 2017, MPR cut all business ties with Keillor after an allegation of inappropriate behavior with a freelance writer for ''A Prairie Home Companion''. Internal and external investigations by MPR concluded Keillor had engaged in dozens of sexually inappropriate incidents over a period of years, including unwanted sexual touching.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-02-16 |title=Source of Garrison Keillor allegations shocks those close to radio host |url=https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-garrison-keillor-db14345b521e4518af1be49773733ad4 |access-date=2024-11-30 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref> On April 13, 2018, MPR and Keillor announced a settlement that allows archives of ''A Prairie Home Companion'' and ''The Writer's Almanac'' to be publicly available again, and soon thereafter, Keillor began publishing new episodes of ''The Writer's Almanac'' on his website.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Writer's Almanac Archives |url=http://www.garrisonkeillor.com/radio-categories/twa-2018/ |website=Garrisonkeillor.com}}</ref> He also continues to tour a stage version of ''A Prairie Home Companion''; these shows are not broadcast by [[National Public Radio]] or [[American Public Media]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=2024 performances |url=https://www.garrisonkeillor.com/press/2024-performances/ |access-date=2023-12-21 |website=Garrison Keillor |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
[[File:GarrisonKeillor.JPG|thumb|right|upright|Keillor in 2010, wearing his signature red shoes]]
Keillor was born in [[Anoka, Minnesota]], the son of Grace Ruth (''née'' Denham) and John Philip Keillor. His father was a carpenter and postal worker<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wadler |first=Joyce |date=June 7, 2006 |title=Where all the rooms are above average / Garrison Keillor's home not a little house on the prairie |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/06/07/HOG8GJ8NBR1.DTL |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120414130150/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2006%2F06%2F07%2FHOG8GJ8NBR1.DTL |archive-date=April 14, 2012 |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |publisher=[[Hearst Corporation]] |location=San Francisco, California |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Landsend.com |url=http://www.landsend.com/cd/fp/help/0,,1_36877_36882_37199_,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403023558/http://www.landsend.com/cd/fp/help/0%2C%2C1_36877_36882_37199_%2C00.html |archive-date=April 3, 2012 |access-date=February 5, 2021}}</ref> of [[English people|English]] ancestry; Keillor's paternal grandfather was from [[Kingston, Ontario]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=1996-02-26 |title=Garrison Keillor sounds at home on CBC Radio |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/19169102.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+26%2C+1996&author=By+Peter+Goddard+Toronto+Star&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=Garrison+Keillor+sounds+at+home+on+CBC+Radio&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130216163534/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/19169102.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+26,+1996&author=By+Peter+Goddard+Toronto+Star&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=Garrison+Keillor+sounds+at+home+on+CBC+Radio&pqatl=google |archive-date=February 16, 2013 |access-date=2015-03-04 |publisher=Pqasb.pqarchiver.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ancestry of Garrison Keillor |url=http://www.wargs.com/other/keillor.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150308163850/http://www.wargs.com/other/keillor.html |archive-date=March 8, 2015 |access-date=2015-03-04 |publisher=Wargs.com |df=mdy-all}}</ref> His maternal grandparents were [[Scottish people|Scottish]] emigrants from [[Glasgow]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Paterson |first=Mike |title=Emigrants, Expatriates, Descendants and Clans |url=http://www.irss.uoguelph.ca/article/download/176/218 |journal=International Review of Scottish Studies |publication-date=2003 |volume=28 |pages=59–87 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109201408/http://www.irss.uoguelph.ca/article/download/176/218 |archive-date=2013-11-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2012-07-27 |title=Grace Keillor, mother of Garrison, passes away at age 97 |url=http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/state-of-the-arts/archive/2012/07/grace-keillor-mother-of-garrison-passes-away-at-age-97.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018220007/http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/state-of-the-arts/archive/2012/07/grace-keillor-mother-of-garrison-passes-away-at-age-97.shtml |archive-date=October 18, 2012 |access-date=2015-03-04 |department=State of the Arts |publisher=Minnesota Public Radio}}</ref> He was the third of six children, with three brothers and two sisters.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Buckley |first=Cara |date=2016-06-16 |title=The Garrison Keillor You Never Knew |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/19/arts/the-garrison-keillor-you-never-knew.html |access-date=2022-02-12 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Keillor's family belonged to the [[Plymouth Brethren]], an [[Evangelicalism|Evangelical Christian]] movement that he has since left. In 2006, he told ''[[Christianity Today]]'' that he was attending the St. John the Evangelist [[Episcopal Church in the United States of America|Episcopal]] church in [[Saint Paul, Minnesota]], after previously attending a [[Lutheran]] church in New York.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=2006-06-05 |title=From the Radio to the Big Screen |url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/movies/interviews/2006/garrisonkiellor.html?start=2 |access-date=2015-03-04 |magazine=Christianity Today}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Press Room |url=http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/about/press |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713173959/http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/about/press/ |archive-date=July 13, 2014 |website=Prairiehome.publicradio.org |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Keillor graduated from [[Anoka High School]] in 1960 and from the [[University of Minnesota]] with a [[bachelor's degree]] in English in 1966.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Keillor |first=Garrison |date=April 15, 2010 |title=Post to the Host: 7th Grade Report |url=http://www.publicradio.org/columns/prairiehome/posthost/2010/04/15/some_facts.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100921042203/http://www.publicradio.org/columns/prairiehome/posthost/2010/04/15/some_facts.php |archive-date=September 21, 2010 |access-date=2010-09-05 |website=A Prairie Home Companion |df=mdy-all}}</ref> During college, he began his broadcasting career on the student-operated radio station known today as [[Radio K]].

In his 2004 book ''Homegrown Democrat: A Few Plain Thoughts from the Heart of America'', Keillor mentions some of his noteworthy ancestors, including [[John Crandall]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Keillor |first=Garrison |url=https://archive.org/details/homegrowndemocra00keil_0/page/39 |title=Homegrown Democrat |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-14-303768-2 |location=New York |pages=39–40, 84}}</ref> who was an associate of [[Roger Williams]], who founded [[Rhode Island]] and the first American [[Baptist]] church; and [[Prudence Crandall]], who founded the first African-American women's school in America.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Keillor |first=Garrison |url=https://archive.org/details/homegrowndemocra00keil_0/page/84 |title=Homegrown Democrat |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-14-303768-2 |location=New York |page=84}}</ref>

==Career==
===Radio===
Garrison Keillor started his professional radio career in November 1969 with Minnesota Educational Radio (MER), later [[Minnesota Public Radio]] (MPR), which today distributes programs under the [[American Public Media]] (APM) brand. He hosted a weekday drive-time broadcast called ''A Prairie Home Entertainment'', on KSJR FM at [[College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University|St. John's University]] in [[Collegeville, Minnesota|Collegeville]]. The show's eclectic music was a major divergence from the station's usual [[classical music|classical]] fare. During this time he submitted fiction to ''[[The New Yorker]]'' magazine, where his first story for that publication, "Local Family Keeps Son Happy," appeared in September 1970.<ref name="Lee">{{Cite news |last=Lee |first=J. Y. |year=1991 |title=Garrison Keillor: A Voice of America |url=https://archive.org/details/garrisonkeillor00judi |url-access=registration |publisher=[[University Press of Mississippi]] |location=Jackson |isbn=978-0-878-054732}}</ref>

Keillor resigned from ''The Morning Program'' in February 1971 in protest of what he considered interference with his musical programming; as part of his protest, he played nothing but the [[Beach Boys]]' "[[Help Me, Rhonda]]" during one broadcast. When he returned to the station in October, the show was dubbed ''[[A Prairie Home Companion]]''.<ref name="Lee" />

Keillor has attributed the idea for the live Saturday night radio program to his 1973 assignment to write about the [[Grand Ole Opry]] for ''[[The New Yorker]]'', but he had already begun showcasing local musicians on the morning show, despite limited studio space. In August 1973, MPR announced plans to broadcast a Saturday night version of ''A Prairie Home Companion'' with live musicians.<ref name="Lee" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=August 24, 1973 |title=Keillor to Quit Daily Show, Others Leave KSJN |work=[[Minneapolis Tribune]] |publisher=Star Tribune Media Company LLC |location=Minneapolis, Minnesota |page=14B}}</ref>

''A Prairie Home Companion'' (''PHC'') debuted as an old-style variety show before a live audience on July 6, 1974; it featured guest musicians and a cadre cast doing musical numbers and comic skits replete with elaborate live sound effects. The show was punctuated by spoof commercial spots for [[A Prairie Home Companion#Fictional sponsors|''PHC'' fictitious sponsors]] such as Powdermilk Biscuits, the Ketchup Advisory Board, and the Professional Organization of English Majors (POEM);{{sfn|Lee|1991|pp=35, 85}} it presented parodic serial melodramas, such as ''The Adventures of [[Guy Noir]], Private Eye'' and ''The Lives of the Cowboys.'' Keillor voiced Noir, the cowboy Lefty, and other recurring characters, and provided lead or backup vocals for some of the show's musical numbers. The show aired from the [[Fitzgerald Theater]] in [[St. Paul, Minnesota|St. Paul]].

After the show's intermission, Keillor read clever and often humorous greetings to friends and family at home submitted by members of the theater audience in exchange for an honorarium. Also in the second half of the show, Keillor delivered a monologue called ''The News from Lake Wobegon'', a fictitious town based in part on Keillor's hometown of [[Anoka, Minnesota]], and on [[Freeport, Minnesota|Freeport]] and other small towns in [[Stearns County, Minnesota]], where he lived in the early 1970s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Keillor |first=Garrison |url=https://archive.org/details/insearchoflakewo0000keil/page/12 |title=In Search of Lake Wobegon |publisher=Viking Studio |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-670-03037-8 |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/insearchoflakewo0000keil/page/12 12–13] |author-link=Garrison Keillor}}</ref> [[Lake Wobegon]] is a quintessentially Minnesota small town characterized by the narrator as a place "... where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average."

[[File:2014DworskyKeillor.jpg|thumb|Keillor with [[Richard Dworsky]] on the 40th anniversary of ''A Prairie Home Companion'']]
The original ''PHC'' ran until 1987, when Keillor ended it to focus on other projects. In 1989, he launched a new live radio program from New York City, ''The American Radio Company of the Air'', which had essentially the same format as ''PHC''. In 1992, he moved ARC back to St. Paul, and a year later changed the name back to ''A Prairie Home Companion''; it remained a fixture of Saturday night radio broadcasting for decades.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Prairie Home Companion |url=https://www.prairiehome.org/about/history |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161115070843/https://www.prairiehome.org/about/history |archive-date=November 15, 2016 |access-date=2016-11-14 |publisher=A Prairie Home Companion |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

On a typical broadcast of ''A Prairie Home Companion'', Keillor's name was not mentioned unless a guest addressed him by name, although some sketches featured Keillor as his alter ego, Carson Wyler. In the closing credits, which Keillor read, he gave himself no billing or credit except "written by [[Cerebellum|Sarah Bellum]]," a joking reference to his own brain.

Keillor regularly took the radio company on the road to broadcast from popular venues around the United States; the touring production typically featured local celebrities and skits incorporating local color. In April 2000, he took the program to Edinburgh, Scotland, producing two performances in the city's [[Queen's Hall]], which were broadcast by BBC Radio. He toured Scotland with the program to celebrate its 25th anniversary. (In the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, the program is known as ''Garrison Keillor's Radio Show''.) Keillor produced broadcast performances similar to ''PHC'' but without the "Prairie Home Companion" brand, as in his 2008 appearance at the [[Oregon Bach Festival]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oregon Bach Festival pressroom |url=http://www.oregonbachfestival.com/pressroom/news/267 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101128155233/http://oregonbachfestival.com/pressroom/news/267 |archive-date=November 28, 2010 |access-date=August 17, 2009 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> He was also the host of ''[[The Writer's Almanac]],'' from 1993 to 2017, which, like ''PHC'', was produced and distributed by American Public Media.

In a March 2011 interview, Keillor announced that he would be retiring from ''A Prairie Home Companion'' in 2013;<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 17, 2011 |title=Garrison Keillor, 'Prairie Home Companion' Host, to Retire From Radio |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/garrison-keillor-prairie-home-companion-168797 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110318085208/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/garrison-keillor-prairie-home-companion-168797 |archive-date=March 18, 2011 |access-date=March 30, 2011 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |df=mdy-all}}</ref> but in a December 2011 interview with the ''[[Sioux City Journal]]'', Keillor said: "The show is going well. I love doing it. Why quit?"<ref>{{Cite news |last=Miller |first=Bruce |date=December 1, 2011 |title=Garrison Keillor keeps the home fires burning |url=http://siouxcityjournal.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/garrison-keillor-keeps-the-home-fires-burning/article_fa5de025-6cb5-541d-a7fa-b055d065b5ae.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106092749/http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/garrison-keillor-keeps-the-home-fires-burning/article_fa5de025-6cb5-541d-a7fa-b055d065b5ae.html |archive-date=January 6, 2012 |access-date=January 22, 2012 |work=[[Sioux City Journal]] |publisher=[[Lee Enterprises]] |location=Sioux City, Iowa |df=mdy-all}}</ref> During an interview on July 20, 2015, Keillor announced his intent to retire from the show after the 2015–2016 season, saying, "I have a lot of other things that I want to do. I mean, nobody retires anymore. Writers never retire. But this is my last season. This tour this summer is the farewell tour."<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 21, 2015 |title=Garrison Keillor to retire from 'Prairie Home' in 2016 |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/garrison-keillor-retire-prairie-home-2016-article-1.2298464 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723170139/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/garrison-keillor-retire-prairie-home-2016-article-1.2298464 |archive-date=July 23, 2015 |website=[[New York Daily News]] |publisher=[[Tronc]] |location=New York City |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Keillor's final episode of the show was recorded live for an audience of 18,000 fans at the [[Hollywood Bowl]] in California on July 1, 2016,<ref name="Guardian">{{Cite news |date=July 2, 2016 |title=Garrison Keillor hosts final A Prairie Home Companion episode |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jul/02/garrison-keillor-final-prairie-home-companion-episode |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161004195612/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jul/02/garrison-keillor-final-prairie-home-companion-episode |archive-date=October 4, 2016 |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London, England}}</ref> and broadcast the next day, ending 42 seasons of the show.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Justin |first1=Neal |last2=Navidi |first2=Leila |date=June 18, 2016 |title=Sun is setting on Garrison Keillor's time on Lake Wobegon |url=http://www.startribune.com/sun-is-setting-on-garrison-keillors-time-on-lake-,wobegon/382713261/ |website=[[Minneapolis Star Tribune]] |publisher=Star Tribune Media Company LLC |location=Minneapolis, Minnesota}}</ref> After the performance, President [[Barack Obama]] phoned Keillor to congratulate him.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Garner |first=Dwight |date=2016-07-03 |title=Keillor turns out the lights on Lake Wobegon |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/04/arts/garrison-keillor-turns-out-the-lights-on-lake-wobegon.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161015121132/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/04/arts/garrison-keillor-turns-out-the-lights-on-lake-wobegon.html |archive-date=October 15, 2016 |work=[[The New York Times]] |df=mdy-all}}</ref> The show continued on October 15, 2016, with [[Chris Thile]] as its host.

==== Separation from MPR ====
On November 29, 2017, the ''[[Star Tribune]]'' reported that [[Minnesota Public Radio]] was terminating all business relationships with Keillor as a result of "allegations of his inappropriate behavior with an individual who worked with him." In January 2018, MPR CEO Jon McTaggart elaborated that they had received allegations of "dozens" of sexually inappropriate incidents from the individual, including requests for sexual contact.<ref name="mpr-yuen">{{Cite news |last1=Yuen |first1=Laura |last2=Sepic |first2=Matt |last3=Kerr |first3=Euan |date=January 23, 2018 |title=For some who lived in it, Keillor's world wasn't funny |url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/01/23/keillor-workplace |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180123220449/https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/01/23/keillor-workplace |archive-date=January 23, 2018 |access-date=January 23, 2018 |work=[[MPR News]] |publisher=[[Minnesota Public Radio|MPR]] |location=St. Paul, Minnesota |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Keillor denied any wrongdoing and said his firing stems from an incident when he touched a woman's bare back while trying to console her. He said he had apologized to her soon after, that they had already made up, and that he was surprised to hear the allegations when her lawyer called.

In its statement of termination, MPR announced that Keillor would keep his executive credit for the show, but that since he owns the trademark for the phrase "prairie home companion", they would cease rebroadcasting episodes of ''A Prairie Home Companion'' featuring Keillor and remove the trademarked phrase from [[A Prairie Home Companion with Chris Thile|the radio show hosted by Chris Thile]]. MPR also eliminated its business connections to PrairieHome.org and stopped distributing Keillor's daily program ''[[The Writer's Almanac]]''.<ref name="MPR">{{Cite web |date=November 29, 2017 |title=Minnesota Public Radio statement on the firing of Garrison Keillor |url=http://www.startribune.com/mpr-statement-on-the-firing-of-garrison-keillor/460818103/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201034154/http://www.startribune.com/mpr-statement-on-the-firing-of-garrison-keillor/460818103/ |archive-date=December 1, 2017 |access-date=November 30, 2017 |website=[[Minneapolis Star Tribune]] |publisher=Star Tribune Media Company LLC |location=Minneapolis, Minnesota |df=mdy-all}}</ref> ''[[The Washington Post]]'' also canceled Keillor's weekly column when they learned he had continued writing columns, including a controversial piece criticizing [[Al Franken]]'s resignation because of sexual misconduct allegations, without revealing that he was under investigation at MPR.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Baenen |first=Jeff |title=Garrison Keillor firing prompts backlash from fans; MPR reports 1 formal complaint |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-garrison-keillor-firing-backlash-20171130-story.html |access-date=January 16, 2018 |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |publisher=[[Tronc]] |location=Chicago, Illinois |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last1=Ohlheiser |first1=Abby |last2=Zak |first2=Dan |last3=Fisher |first3=Marc |date=November 29, 2017 |title=Garrison Keillor, founder of 'A Prairie Home Companion,' fired after allegations of improper behavior |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/garrison-keillor-ex-host-of-a-prairie-home-companion-dropped-by-minnesota-public-radio-after-allegations-of-improper-behavior/2017/11/29/5fa1256c-d52c-11e7-b62d-d9345ced896d_story.html |access-date=January 16, 2018 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |publisher=Nash Holdings LLC |location=Washington DC |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref>

Several fans wrote MPR to protest Keillor's firing, but only 153 members canceled their memberships because of it. In January 2018, Keillor announced he was in mediation with MPR over the firing.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Baenen |first=Jeff |date=January 8, 2018 |title=Keillor in mediation with Minnesota Public Radio over firing |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/keillor-in-mediation-with-minnesota-public-radio-over-firing/2018/01/08/3bab778e-f4b7-11e7-9af7-a50bc3300042_story.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109003213/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/keillor-in-mediation-with-minnesota-public-radio-over-firing/2018/01/08/3bab778e-f4b7-11e7-9af7-a50bc3300042_story.html |archive-date=January 9, 2018 |access-date=January 16, 2018 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |publisher=Nash Holdings LLC |location=Washington DC |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> On January 23, 2018, MPR News reported further on the investigation after interviewing almost 60 people who had worked with Keillor. The story described other alleged sexual misconduct by Keillor, and a $16,000 severance check for a woman who was asked to sign a confidentiality agreement to prevent her from talking about her time at MPR (she refused and never deposited the check).<ref name="mpr-yuen" />

==== Settlement and access to archived shows ====
Keillor received a letter from the MPR CEO, Jon McTaggart, dated April 5, 2018, confirming that both sides wanted archives of ''A Prairie Home Companion'' and ''The Writer's Almanac'' to be publicly available again. In April 2018, MPR and Keillor announced a settlement under which MPR would restore the online archives.<ref name="Settlement">{{Cite web |last1=Yuen |first1=Laura |last2=Kerr |first2=Euan |date=April 13, 2018 |title=MPR-Keillor deal preserves Prairie Home, Writer's Almanac archives |url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/04/13/mpr-reaches-agreement-with-keillor-on-public-access-prairi-home-companion-writers-almanac |access-date=April 16, 2018 |publisher=[[Minnesota Public Radio|MPR]]}}</ref>

==== ''Finding Your Roots'' segment ====
Also due to the allegations of inappropriate behavior, Keillor's segment in the [[PBS]] series ''[[Finding Your Roots]]'' episode that aired on December 19, 2017, was replaced by an older segment featuring [[Maya Rudolph]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 11, 2017 |title=Garrison Keillor pulled from PBS's 'Finding Your Roots' series |url=https://www.twincities.com/2017/12/11/garrison-keillor-pulled-from-pbss-finding-your-roots-series/ |access-date=February 5, 2021 |website=Twincities.com}}</ref>

===Writing===
At age 13, Keillor adopted the pen name "Garrison" to distinguish his personal life from his professional writing.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Minnesota Author Biographies: Garrison Keillor |url=http://collections.mnhs.org/mnauthors/index.php/10001072 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417214633/http://collections.mnhs.org/mnauthors/index.php/10001072 |archive-date=April 17, 2016 |access-date=September 11, 2016 |publisher=Minnesota Historical Society |df=mdy-all}}</ref> He commonly uses "Garrison" in public and in other media.
[[File:2016GK.jpg|thumb|Keillor in 2016]]
Keillor has been called "[o]ne of the most perceptive and witty commentators about Midwestern life" by [[Randall Balmer]] in ''Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism.''<ref>Randall Balmer: ''Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism''. Revised and expanded edition 2004, Baylor University Press.</ref> He has written numerous magazine and newspaper articles and more than a dozen books for adults as well as children. In addition to writing for ''[[The New Yorker]],'' he has written for ''[[The Atlantic Monthly]]'' and ''[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]].''<ref>{{Cite web |title=In Search of Lake Wobegon @ |url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0012/feature5/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211061532/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0012/feature5/index.html |archive-date=December 11, 2007 |access-date=2015-03-04 |publisher=Nationalgeographic.com |df=mdy-all}}</ref> He has also written for [[Salon.com]] and authored an [[Agony aunt|advice column]] there under the name "Mr. Blue." Following a heart operation, he resigned on September 4, 2001, his last column being titled "Every dog has his day":<ref>{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Laura |date=September 4, 2001 |title=Every dog has his day |url=http://www.salon.com/books/col/keil/2001/09/04/adieu/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110126114425/http://www.salon.com/books/col/keil/2001/09/04/adieu/index.html |archive-date=January 26, 2011 |access-date=March 4, 2015 |website=[[Salon.com]] |publisher=[[Salon Media Group]] |location=San Francisco, California |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

In 2004, Keillor published a collection of political essays, ''Homegrown Democrat: A Few Plain Thoughts from the Heart of America,'' and in June 2005 he began a column called ''The Old Scout'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=Liberal - Political |url=http://www.tmsfeatures.com/columns/political/liberal/garrison-keillor/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081113155530/http://www.tmsfeatures.com/columns/political/liberal/garrison-keillor/ |archive-date=2008-11-13 |access-date=2015-03-04 |publisher=www.tmsfeatures.com}}</ref> which ran at Salon.com and in [[Print syndication|syndicated]] newspapers. The column went on hiatus in April 2010 so that he could "finish a screenplay and start writing a novel."

===Bookselling===
[[File:2009-0811-StP-BlairFlats-CGB.jpg|thumb|right|"Common Good Books, G. Keillor, Prop." in St. Paul]]
On November 1, 2006, Keillor opened an [[independent bookstore]], "Common Good Books, G. Keillor, Prop." in the [[Blair Flats|Blair Arcade Building]] at the southwest corner of Selby and N. Western Avenues in the Cathedral Hill area in the [[Summit-University]] neighborhood of [[Saint Paul, Minnesota]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Webb |first=Tom |date=December 2, 2011 |title=Keillor's bookstore outgrows St. Paul space and will move to Macalester College campus |url=http://www.twincities.com/ci_19456988 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004213129/http://www.twincities.com/ci_19456988 |archive-date=October 4, 2013 |access-date=May 28, 2013 |work=[[St. Paul Pioneer Press]] |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

In April 2012, the store moved to a new location on Snelling Avenue across from [[Macalester College]] in the [[Macalester-Groveland|Macalester-Groveland neighborhood]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Craine |first=Tatiana |date=May 7, 2012 |title=Garrison Keillor's Common Good Books re-opens in new location |url=http://blogs.citypages.com/dressingroom/2012/05/garrison_keillors_common_good_books_re-opens_in_new_location.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529101027/https://blogs.citypages.com/dressingroom/2012/05/garrison_keillors_common_good_books_re-opens_in_new_location.php |archive-date=May 29, 2013 |access-date=May 28, 2013 |work=Citypages.com |df=mdy}}</ref> In April 2019, Keillor sold his interest in the bookstore.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tribune |first=Emma Nelson Star |title=Garrison Keillor's bookstore in St. Paul gets new owner, name |url=https://www.startribune.com/garrison-keillor-s-bookstore-in-st-paul-gets-new-owner-name/508717972/ |access-date=2021-12-11 |website=Star Tribune|date=April 18, 2019 }}</ref> The store was renamed Next Chapter and is in the same location.<ref>{{cite web | last=Grossmann | first=Mary Ann | title=Common Good Books begins Next Chapter, as Garrison Keillor's bookstore changes hands | website=Twin Cities | date=2019-04-18 | url=https://www.twincities.com/2019/04/18/common-good-books-garrison-keillor-st-paul-minneapolis-bookstores-nex-chapter/ | access-date=2024-11-29}}</ref>

===Voice-over work===
Probably owing in part to his distinctive [[North-Central American English|North-Central]] accent, Keillor is often used as a [[voice-over]] actor. Some notable appearances include:
* Voiceover artist for Honda UK's "the Power of Dreams" campaign. The campaign's most memorable advertisement is the 2003 [[Honda Accord]] commercial ''[[Cog (television commercial)|Cog]]'', which features a [[W. Heath Robinson|Heath Robinson]] contraption (or [[Rube Goldberg machine]]) made entirely of car parts. The commercial ends with Keillor asking, "Isn't it nice when things just work?"<ref>{{Cite web |title=Creative Club - Home |url=https://www.creativeclub.co.uk/prelogin/home.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929010925/http://www.creativeclub.co.uk/prelogin/mg.aspx?m=tv&r=208543&ref= |archive-date=September 29, 2007 |access-date=February 5, 2021 |website=Creativeclub.co.uk}}</ref> Since then, Keillor has voiced the tagline for most if not all UK Honda advertisements, and even sang the voiceover in the 2004 Honda Diesel commercial ''[[Grrr (advert)|Grrr]]''.<ref>{{YouTube|puGvk1RgmrE|Grr Commercial}}</ref> {{cns|date=October 2025|text=His most recent ad was a reworking of an existing commercial with digitally added England flags to tie in with the [[2006 FIFA World Cup|World Cup]]. Keillor's tagline was "Come on, England, keep the dream alive."}}
* Voice of the Norse god [[Odin]] in an episode of the Disney animated series ''[[Hercules: The Animated Series|Hercules]]''
* Voice of [[Walt Whitman]] and other historical figures in [[Ken Burns]]'s documentary series ''[[The Civil War (TV series)|The Civil War]]'' and ''[[Baseball (TV series)|Baseball]]''
* Narrator of "River of Dreams" Documentary at the [[National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium]] in Dubuque, Iowa
* In 1991, Keillor released ''[[Songs of the Cat]],'' an album of original and parody songs about cats.

=== Film ===
In 2006, Keillor wrote and portrayed himself in the [[Musical film|musical]] [[comedy film]] ''[[A Prairie Home Companion (film)|A Prairie Home Companion]]'', directed by [[Robert Altman]]. It is a fictional representation of behind-the-scenes activities at the long-running public [[radio show]] of the [[A Prairie Home Companion|same name]]. The film received mostly positive reviews and was a moderate box-office success on a small budget. It features an [[ensemble cast]] including [[Woody Harrelson]], [[Tommy Lee Jones]], [[Kevin Kline]], [[Lindsay Lohan]], [[Virginia Madsen]], [[John C. Reilly]], [[Maya Rudolph]], [[Meryl Streep]], and [[Lily Tomlin]].

==Reception==
In a 2006 essay in ''[[Slate.com|Slate]]'', Sam Anderson called Keillor "very clearly a genius. His range and stamina alone are incredible—after 30 years, he rarely repeats himself—and he has the genuine wisdom of a [[Bill Cosby|Cosby]] or [[Mark Twain]]." But Keillor's "willful simplicity," Anderson wrote, "is annoying because, after a while, it starts to feel prescriptive. Being a responsible adult doesn't necessarily mean speaking slowly about tomatoes." Anderson also noted that in 1985, when ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine called Keillor the funniest man in America, [[Bill Cosby]] said, "That's true if you're a [[Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony)|pilgrim.]]"<ref>{{Cite web |last=Anderson |first=Sam |date=June 16, 2006 |title=A Prairie Home Conundrum |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/assessment/2006/06/a_prairie_home_conundrum.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160211155047/http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/assessment/2006/06/a_prairie_home_conundrum.html |archive-date=February 11, 2016 |website=Slate |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

===In popular culture===
Keillor's style, particularly his speaking voice, has often been [[parody|parodied]].
*In ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode "[[Marge on the Lam]]", the family watches a Keillor-like monologist on television and does not find him funny.<ref>{{cite video |people=Groening, Matt |date=2004 |title=The Simpsons The Complete Fifth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Marge on the Lam" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Groening |first=Matt |author-link=Matt Groening |editor1-first=Ray |editor1-last=Richmond |editor1-link=Ray Richmond |editor2-first=Antonia |editor2-last=Coffman |title=[[The Simpsons episode guides#The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family|The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family]] |edition=1st |year=1997 |location=New York |publisher=[[HarperPerennial]] |lccn=98141857 |ol=433519M |oclc=37796735 |isbn=978-0-06-095252-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/simpsonscomplete00groe/page/126 126] |ref={{harvid|Richmond & Coffman|1997}} }}.</ref>
*On the November 19, 2011, episode of ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'', cast member [[Bill Hader]] impersonated Keillor in a sketch depicting celebrities auditioning to replace [[Regis Philbin]] as co-host of ''[[Live! with Kelly]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 20, 2011 |title='SNL' Spoofs Garrison Keillor |url=http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/11/20/snl-spoofs-garrison-keillor/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402155054/http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/11/20/snl-spoofs-garrison-keillor/ |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |access-date=March 27, 2015 |work=[[WCCO-TV]] |df=mdy-all}}</ref>
*One Boston radio critic likens Keillor and his "down-comforter voice" to "a hypnotist intoning, 'You are getting sleepy now'," while noting that Keillor does play to listeners' intelligence.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Boston.com |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/07/17/air_waves_bostons_public_radio_scene_gets_interesting?mode=PF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080630001727/http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/07/17/air_waves_bostons_public_radio_scene_gets_interesting?mode=PF |archive-date=June 30, 2008 |access-date=February 5, 2021}}</ref>
*Pennsylvanian singer-songwriter [[Tom Flannery]] wrote a song in 2003 titled "I Want a Job Like Garrison Keillor's."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-11-13 |title=I Want a Job Like Garrison Keillor's |url=http://www.songaweek.com/lyrics/11132003_iwantajoblikegarrisonkeillors.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151103040327/http://www.songaweek.com/lyrics/11132003_iwantajoblikegarrisonkeillors.html |archive-date=November 3, 2015 |access-date=2015-03-04 |publisher=Songaweek.com |df=mdy-all}}</ref>
*Two parody books by "Harrison Geillor", ''The Zombies of Lake Woebegotten'' and ''The Twilight of Lake Woebegotten'', were published by [[Night Shade Books]] in 2010 and 2011.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Books by Harrison Geillor |url=http://www.nightshadebooks.com/book_authors/harrison-geillor/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202200455/http://www.nightshadebooks.com/book_authors/harrison-geillor/ |archive-date=December 2, 2017 |access-date=8 February 2016 |publisher=Night Shade Books |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

==Personal life==
[[File:APHC2014GK.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Keillor in 2014]]
Keillor is a member of the [[Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party|Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Powers |first=John |date=August 10, 2008 |title=Plenty of niceness, and no ice, for a Grand Old Party |url=http://www.boston.com/travel/getaways/us/articles/2008/08/10/plenty_of_niceness_and_no_ice_for_a_grand_old_party/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102205301/http://www.boston.com/travel/getaways/us/articles/2008/08/10/plenty_of_niceness_and_no_ice_for_a_grand_old_party/ |archive-date=November 2, 2012 |work=The Boston Globe |df=mdy-all}}</ref> He is {{Convert|6|ft|3|in|cm|abbr=on}} tall.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Salon |url=http://www.salon.com/books/col/keil/1999/05/25/sex_ex/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110424094857/http://www.salon.com/books/col/keil/1999/05/25/sex_ex/index.html |archive-date=April 24, 2011 |access-date=February 5, 2021}}</ref> He considers himself a [[loner]] and prefers not to make eye contact with people. Though not formally diagnosed, he also considers himself to be on the high-functioning end of the [[autism spectrum]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 26, 2016 |title=Garrison Keillor signs off |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/garrison-keillor-signs-off/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160627142156/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/garrison-keillor-signs-off/ |archive-date=June 27, 2016 |website=[[CBS News]] |df=mdy-all}}</ref> He spoke about his experiences as an autistic person in his keynote address at the 19th Annual Minnesota Autism Conference in 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thomalla |first=Kelly |title=Garrison Keillor opens 19th Annual MN Autism Conference |url=https://ausm.org/676-garrison-keillor-opens-19th-annual-minnesota-autism-conference.html |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803063415/https://ausm.org/676-garrison-keillor-opens-19th-annual-minnesota-autism-conference.html |archive-date=August 3, 2016 |website=ausm.org |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=19th Annual Minnesota Autism Conference: Garrison Keillor Unforgettable |url=http://blog.heidischauer.com/19th-annual-minnesota-autism-conference-garrison-keillor-unforgettable/ |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623184242/http://blog.heidischauer.com/19th-annual-minnesota-autism-conference-garrison-keillor-unforgettable/ |archive-date=June 23, 2016 |website=blog.heidischauer.com |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Keillor has been married three times.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Garrison Keillor and Jenny Lind Nilsson - Marriage Profile |url=http://marriage.about.com/od/entertainmen1/p/keillornilsson.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402112546/http://marriage.about.com/od/entertainmen1/p/keillornilsson.htm |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |access-date=2015-03-04 |publisher=Marriage.about.com |df=mdy-all}}</ref> He was married to Mary Guntzel from 1965 to 1976; they had one son. From 1985 to 1990 he was married to Ulla Skaerved, a former [[exchange student]] from Denmark at Keillor's high school whom he re-encountered at a class reunion.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 12, 1986 |title=Garrison Keillor What He Did For Love |url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1986-02-12/entertainment/8601110465_1_margaret-moos-ulla-skaerved-anoka-high-school |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623165233/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1986-02-12/entertainment/8601110465_1_margaret-moos-ulla-skaerved-anoka-high-school |archive-date=June 23, 2016 |website=[[Chicago Tribune]] |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="NYT">{{Cite web |last=Wadler, Joyce |date=June 1, 2006 |title=Where All the Rooms Are Above Average |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/01/garden/01keillor.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201020241/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/01/garden/01keillor.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |archive-date=December 1, 2017 |website=[[The New York Times]] |df=mdy-all}}</ref> In 1995, Keillor married classical string player Jenny Lind Nilsson (born 1957), who is also from Keillor's home town of [[Anoka, Minnesota]].<ref name=NYT/> They have one daughter.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 2, 1998 |title=A Prairie Home Companion from American Public Media |url=http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/features/hodgepodge/19980102_baby/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100704183943/http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/features/hodgepodge/19980102_baby/ |archive-date=July 4, 2010 |access-date=December 24, 2010 |publisher=American Public Media |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Between his first and second marriages, Keillor was romantically involved with Margaret Moos, who worked as a producer of ''A Prairie Home Companion''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Garrison Keillor |url=http://www.johnrosengren.net/garrison-keillor |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150313055253/http://www.johnrosengren.net/garrison-keillor |archive-date=March 13, 2015 |access-date=2015-03-04 |publisher=John Rosengren |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

On September 7, 2009, Keillor was briefly hospitalized after suffering a minor [[stroke]]. He returned to work a few days later.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Walsh |first=Paul |date=September 9, 2009 |title=Minor stroke puts Keillor in hospital |url=http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/style/58076947.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUs |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607070138/http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/style/58076947.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O%3ADW3ckUiD3aPc%3A_Yyc%3AaUUs |archive-date=June 7, 2011 |access-date=September 9, 2009 |work=[[Star Tribune]] |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

In 2006, after a visit to a [[United Methodist Church|United Methodist church]] in [[Highland Park, Texas]], Keillor created a local controversy with his remarks about the event,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Russell |first=Robin |orig-date=2006-10-10 |title=Garrison Keillor disses UMs after Dallas lecture |url=http://www.umportal.org/main/article.asp?id=1252 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229215707/http://www.umportal.org/main/article.asp?id=1252 |archive-date=2012-02-29 |department=Editor's Corner |publisher=The United Methodist Portal}}</ref> including the rhetorical suggestion of a connection between event participants and supporters of torture and a statement creating an impression of political intimidation: "I walked in, was met by two burly security men ... 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." In response, the lecture series coordinator said the two "burly security men" were a local policeman and the church's own security supervisor, both present because the agreement with Keillor's publisher specified that the venue provide security. In addition, the coordinator said that Keillor arrived at the church, declined an introduction, and took the stage without an opportunity to mingle with the audience, so he did not know when these warnings might have been dispensed. The publicist concurred, saying that Keillor did not have contact with any church members or people in the audience before he spoke.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Floyd |first=Jacquielynn |date=October 4, 2006 |title=Keillor's Dallas jabs read like fictional tale |url=http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/localnews/columnists/jfloyd/stories/100506dnmetfloyd.71c17bc.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061011150018/http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/localnews/columnists/jfloyd/stories/100506dnmetfloyd.71c17bc.html |archive-date=October 11, 2006 |work=[[The Dallas Morning News]] |publisher=[[A.H. Belo Corporation]] |location=Dallas, Texas}}</ref>

Supposedly, before Keillor's remarks, participants at the event had considered the visit cordial and warm. Asked to respond, Keillor stuck to his story, describing the people who advised him not to discuss politics and saying he had no security guards at other stops on the tour.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wilonsky |first=Robert |date=October 4, 2006 |title=And He Sounds Like Such a Nice Boy on the Radio ... |url=http://www.dallasobserver.com/news/and-he-sounds-like-such-a-nice-boy-on-the-radio-7121351 |access-date=May 13, 2018 |work=[[Dallas Observer]] |publisher=[[Voice Media Group]] |location=Dallas, Texas}}</ref>

In 2007, Keillor wrote a column that in part criticized "stereotypical" gay parents, who he said were "sardonic fellows with fussy hair who live in over-decorated apartments with a striped sofa and a small weird dog and who worship campy performers."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Keillor |first=Garrison |author-link=Garrison Keillor |date=March 14, 2007 |title=Stating the obvious |url=https://www.salon.com/2007/03/14/keillor_81/ |access-date=May 13, 2018 |work=[[Salon.com]] |publisher=Salon Media Group Inc. |location=San Francisco, California}}</ref> In response to the strong reactions of many readers, Keillor said:

{{Blockquote|I live in a small world – the world of entertainment, musicians, writers – in which gayness is as common as having brown eyes ... And in that small world, we talk openly and we kid each other a lot. But in the larger world, gayness is controversial ... and so gay people feel besieged to some degree and rightly so ... My column spoke as we would speak in my small world, and it was read by people in the larger world and thus the misunderstanding. And for that, I am sorry. Gay people who set out to be parents can be just as good parents as anybody else, and they know that, and so do I.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Keillor |first=Garrison |author-link=Garrison Keillor |date=March 21, 2007 |title=To the worker ants of science |url=http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/03/21/keillor/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080629050026/http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/03/21/keillor/index.html |archive-date=June 29, 2008 |access-date=March 4, 2015 |website=[[Salon.com]] |publisher=Salon Media Group Inc. |location=San Francisco, California}}</ref>}}

In 2008, Keillor created a controversy in St. Paul when he filed a lawsuit against his neighbor's plan to build an addition on her home, citing his need for "light and air" and a view of "open space and beyond". Keillor's home is significantly larger than others in his neighborhood and it would still be significantly larger than his neighbor's with its planned addition.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nizza |first=Mike |date=February 26, 2015 |title=Garrison Keillor Leaves Home for Greener Prairies |url=https://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/05/garrison-keillor-leaves-home-for-greener-prairies/ |access-date=March 4, 2015 |website=[[The New York Times]] |location=New York City}}</ref> Keillor came to an undisclosed settlement with his neighbor shortly after the story became public.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lonetree |first=Anthony |date=January 23, 2008 |title=Mediation ends Keillor's feud with neighbor |url=http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/13973526.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402190613/http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/13973526.html |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |access-date=March 4, 2015 |website=[[Star Tribune]] |publisher=Star Tribune Media Company LLC |location=Minneapolis, Minnesota |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

In 2009, one of Keillor's "Old Scout" columns contained a reference to "lousy holiday songs by Jewish guys" and a complaint about "[[Silent Night]]" as rewritten by [[Unitarian Universalism|Unitarian]]s, upsetting some readers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Keillor |first=Garrison |author-link=Garrison Keillor |date=December 16, 2009 |title=Garrison Keillor Christmas &#124; Nonbelievers, please leave Christmas alone |url=http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2009-12-16/news/bal-op.keillor16dec16_1_silent-night-unitarian-christmas |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320191950/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2009-12-16/news/bal-op.keillor16dec16_1_silent-night-unitarian-christmas |archive-date=March 20, 2015 |access-date=March 4, 2015 |website=[[The Baltimore Sun]] |publisher=[[Tronc]] |df=mdy-all}}</ref> A Unitarian minister named Cynthia Landrum responded, "Listening to him talk about us over the years, it's becoming more and more evident that he isn't laughing with us—he's laughing at us",<ref>{{Cite web |last=Landrum |first=Cynthia |date=December 17, 2009 |title=Rev. Cyn: Garrison Keillor Is no "Companion" for Unitarian Universalists |url=http://revcyn.blogspot.com/2009/12/garrison-keillor-is-no-companion-for.html?m=0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141227064115/http://revcyn.blogspot.com/2009/12/garrison-keillor-is-no-companion-for.html?m=0 |archive-date=December 27, 2014 |access-date=March 4, 2015 |publisher=Revcyn.blogspot.com |df=mdy-all}}</ref> while Jeff Jacoby of ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' called Keillor "cranky and intolerant".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jacoby |first=Jeff |date=December 27, 2009 |title=Musings, random and otherwise |url=http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/12/27/musings_random_and_otherwise/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221151351/http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/12/27/musings_random_and_otherwise/ |archive-date=December 21, 2014 |access-date=March 4, 2015 |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |publisher=Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC |location=Boston, Massachusetts |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

==Awards and other recognition==
* ''A Prairie Home Companion'' received a [[Peabody Award]]  in 1980.
*Keillor received a Medal for Spoken Language from the [[American Academy of Arts and Letters]] in 1990.<ref name="UNCSA">{{Cite web |title=Something for Everyone |url=http://www.uncsa.edu/performances/sfe1.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725182713/http://www.uncsa.edu/performances/sfe1.htm |archive-date=July 25, 2011 |access-date=April 26, 2011 |publisher=School of the Arts: University of North Carolina |df=mdy-all}}</ref>
* In 1994, Keillor was inducted into the [[National Radio Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Garrison Keillor |url=https://www.radiohalloffame.com/garrison-keillor |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181204102451/http://www.radiohalloffame.com/garrison-keillor |archive-date=2018-12-04 |access-date=2024-02-09 |website=Radio Hall Of Fame |language=en-US}}</ref>
*He received a [[National Humanities Medal]] from the [[National Endowment for the Humanities]] in 1999.<ref name="UNCSA" />
* In 2007, [[The Moth]], a NYC-based not-for-profit storytelling organization, awarded Garrison Keillor the first ''Moth Award – Honoring the Art of the Raconteur'' at the annual Moth Ball.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Themoth.org |url=http://themoth.org/ball |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319231105/http://themoth.org/ball |archive-date=March 19, 2011 |access-date=February 5, 2021}}</ref>
* In September 2007, Keillor was awarded the 2007 [[John Steinbeck Award]], given to artists who capture "the spirit of [[John Steinbeck|Steinbeck]]'s empathy, commitment to democratic values, and belief in the dignity of the common man."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2007 |title=Steinbeck Award 2007: Garrison Keillor |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/236580 |journal=Steinbeck Review |volume=4 |pages=88–92 |doi=10.2307/41582056 |jstor=41582056 |number=2|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* Keillor received a [[Grammy Awards of 1988#Spoken|Grammy Award]] in 1988 for his recording of ''[[Lake Wobegon Days]]''.<ref name="UNCSA" />
* In 2016, he received the Fitzgerald Award for Achievement in American Literature.
* He has also received two [[CableACE Award]]s and a [[Peabody Award|George Foster Peabody Award]].<ref name="UNCSA" />

==Bibliography==
[[File:GarrisonKeillor2007LanesboroMN.JPG|thumb|right|upright|Keillor during a live broadcast in 2007 in Lanesboro, Minnesota]]
{{Incomplete list|date=February 2009}}

=== Books ===
* ''G.K. The D.J.'' (1977)
* ''[[Happy to be Here|Happy to Be Here]]'' (1981), {{ISBN|0-06-811201-7}}
* ''[[WLT: A Radio Romance]]'' (1991), {{ISBN|0-670-81857-7}}
* '' The Book of Guys'' (1993), {{ISBN|0-670-84943-X}}
* '' The Sandy Bottom Orchestra '' (with Jenny Lind Nilsson, 1996), {{ISBN|0-7868-1250-8}}
* ''Me, by Jimmy "Big Boy" Valente'' (1999), {{ISBN|0-670-88796-X}}
* ''Love Me'' (2003), {{ISBN|0-670-03246-8}}
* '' Homegrown Democrat: A Few Plain Thoughts from the Heart of America '' (2004), {{ISBN|0-670-03365-0}}
* ''Daddy's Girl'' (2005), {{ISBN|978-1-4231-0514-5}}
* ''A Christmas Blizzard'' (2009), {{ISBN|978-0-670-02136-9}}
* ''Cat, You Better Come Home'' (2010), 978-0670012770
* ''Guy Noir and the Straight Skinny'' (2012), {{ISBN|0-143-12081-6}}
* ''The Keillor Reader'' (2014), {{ISBN|978-0670020584}}
* ''That Time of Year: A Minnesota Life'' (2020) {{ISBN|978-1-95162-768-3}}
* ''Cheerfulness'' (2023) {{ISBN|979-8-9882818-0-1}}

;Lake Wobegon series
* ''[[Lake Wobegon Days]]'' (1985), {{ISBN|0-14-013161-2}}; a recorded version of this won a [[Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word or Non-musical Album]] [[Grammy Awards of 1988|in 1988]]
* ''[[Leaving Home: A Collection of Lake Wobegon Stories]]'' (1987; collection of Lake Wobegon stories), {{ISBN|0-670-81976-X}}
* ''[[We Are Still Married: Stories & Letters|We Are Still Married]]'' (1989; collection including some Lake Wobegon stories), {{ISBN|9780670826476}}
** An expanded edition was released in 1990 that added six stories and removed one from the original publication. {{ISBN|978-0-140-13156-7}}
* ''Wobegon Boy'' (1997), {{ISBN|0-670-87807-3}}
* ''Lake Wobegon Summer 1956'' (2001), {{ISBN|0-571-21014-7}}
* ''In Search of Lake Wobegon'' (Photographs by [[Richard Olsenius]], 2001), {{ISBN|978-0-670-03037-8}}
* ''[[Pontoon: A Novel of Lake Wobegon]]''  (2007), {{ISBN|0-670-06356-8}}
* ''Liberty: A Novel of Lake Wobegon''  (2008), {{ISBN|0-670-01991-7}}
* ''Life among the Lutherans'' (2009), {{ISBN|978-0-8066-7061-4}}
* ''Pilgrims: A Wobegon Romance'' (2009), {{ISBN|978-0-670-02109-3}}
* ''The Lake Wobegon Virus'' (2020), {{ISBN|9781951627676}}
* ''Boom Town: a Lake Wobegon novel'' (2022), {{ISBN|978-1-7330745-5-1}}

=== Short fiction ===
;Short stories from ''The New Yorker'' <!-- Standardise this table to include all short stories, not just those published in The New Yorker-->
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Title
! Volume/Part
! Date
! Page(s)
! Subject(s)
|-
| A Christmas Story
|
| December 25, 1989
| 40–42
| A boy, Jim, neglected by his plutocrat parents, runs away on Christmas Eve with his ill dog.
|-
| Studio B
|
| July 29, 1991
| 27–32
| Strange things happen at radio station WLT's Studio B
|-
| Al Denny
|
| March 11, 1991
| 30–32
| Fictional mini-autobiography of author of self-help books
|-
| Zeus the Lutheran
|
| October 29, 1990
| 32–37
| The goddess Hera's lawyer meets Zeus in a café to try to ...
|-
| How the Savings and Loans Were Saved
|
| October 16, 1989
| 42
| Huns take over Chicago S & L offices...
|-
| Meeting Famous People
|
| April 18, 1988
| 34–36
| The trial of a famous singer who assaulted a fan
|-
| Your Book Saved My Life
|
| December 28, 1987
| 40–41
| A misunderstood author's books have been difficult for his readers...
|-
| End of an Era
|
| October 28, 1985
| 31–32
| Fiction about his friends' reactions to the death of an aging hippie.
|-
| What Did We Do Wrong?
| 
| September 16, 1985
| 32–35
| Fiction about Annie Szemanski, the first woman to play major league baseball.
|-
| The People V. Jim
|
| July 8, 1985
| 21
| An author of so-called list articles is questioned by a lawyer
|-
| Who We Were and What We Meant by It
|
| April 16, 1984
| 44–45
| Fiction about the so-called Momentist movement 
|}

===Poetry===
;Collections
* ''The Selected Verse of Margaret Haskins Durber'' (1979)
* ''77 Love Sonnets'' (2009), {{ISBN|0-14-311527-8}}
* ''O, What a Luxury: Verses Lyrical, Vulgar, Pathetic & Profound'' (2013)
* ''Living with Limericks'' (2019), {{ISBN|978-1-7330745-1-3}}
;Anthologies
* ''Good Poems'' (2002), {{ISBN|0-670-03126-7}}
* ''Good Poems for Hard Times'' (2005), {{ISBN|0-670-03436-3}}
* ''Good Poems, American Places'' (2011), {{ISBN|0-670-02254-3}}

===Articles and other contributions===
<!--Include synopsis in ref for generic titles, such as Notes and Comment-->
* {{cite journal <!--|author=Keillor, Garrison--> |date=January 7, 1985 |title=Notes and Comment |department=The Talk of the Town |journal=The New Yorker |volume=60 |issue=47 |pages=17–18}}<ref group="lower-alpha">A friend's visit to San Francisco and Stinson Beach, California.</ref>
* {{cite journal <!--|author=Keillor, Garrison |author-mask=1--> |date=November 16, 1987 |title=Hollywood in the Fifties |department=The Talk of the Town |journal=The New Yorker |pages=40–41}}
* {{cite journal <!--|author=Keillor, Garrison |author-mask=1--> |date=February 22, 1988 |title=Three New Twins Join Club in Spring |journal=The New Yorker |pages=32–33}}
;Notes
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite news |last=Buckley |first=Cara |date=June 19, 2016 |title=The Garrison Keillor You Never Knew |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/19/arts/the-garrison-keillor-you-never-knew.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160721225938/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/19/arts/the-garrison-keillor-you-never-knew.html |archive-date=2016-07-21 |work=The New York Times}}

==External links==
{{sister project links|d=Q183031|c=category:Garrison Keillor|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|s=no|wikt=no|m=no|mw=no|species=no}}
* {{official website}}
* {{IMDb name|id=0445087|name=Garrison Keillor}}
* [https://www.prairiehome.org/ ''A Prairie Home Companion'' radio website]—Garrison Keillor's public radio show
* [http://writersalmanac.org/ ''The Writer's Almanac'' website]—Garrison Keillor's daily poetry program
* [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/mar/06/featuresreviews.guardianreview14 "Minnesota Zen Master"]—a detailed profile of Garrison Keillor, published in ''[[The Guardian]]'', March 6, 2004.
* [https://grapevine.is/travel/destinations/2006/05/05/kingdom-of-the-frown/ "Kingdom of the Frown"]—A feature article from ''The Reykjavík Grapevine'' on Garrison Keillor
* [http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/assessment/2006/06/a_prairie_home_conundrum.html "A Prairie Home Conundrum"], ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'', June 16, 2006
* [http://everydayyeah.com/?q=content/interview-mr-keillor An interview with Garrison Keillor] at Everydayyeah.com
* [https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/garrison-keillor-the-man-on-the-radio-in-the-red-shoes/1159/ "Garrison Keillor—The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes"], PBS, ''[[American Masters]]''
* [http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/02/18/midday2/ Speech by Keillor at Concordia University] February 15, 2011
* [http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/1551/the-art-of-humor-no-2-garrison-keillor 1995 ''Paris Review'' interview]
*{{C-SPAN|2283}}

{{Garrison Keillor}}
{{American Public Media}}
{{Tribune Company}}
{{Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album 1980s}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keillor, Garrison}}
[[Category:Garrison Keillor| ]]<!--eponymous category 1st-->
[[Category:1942 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American male actors]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American male actors]]
[[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American advice columnists]]
[[Category:American Episcopalians]]
[[Category:American humorists]]
[[Category:American male comedians]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American male radio actors]]
[[Category:American male singers]]
[[Category:American male voice actors]]
[[Category:American people of English descent]]
[[Category:American people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:American Public Media people]]
[[Category:American radio hosts]]
[[Category:Audiobook narrators]]
[[Category:Comedians from Minnesota]]
[[Category:Edward R. Murrow Award (CPB) winners]]
[[Category:Grammy Award winners]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Male actors from Saint Paul, Minnesota]]
[[Category:Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters]]
[[Category:Minnesota Democrats]]
[[Category:Minnesota Public Radio people]]
[[Category:Monologists]]
[[Category:National Humanities Medal recipients]]
[[Category:People from Anoka, Minnesota]]
[[Category:People from Ramsey County, Minnesota]]
[[Category:Radio personalities from Minnesota]]
[[Category:The New Yorker people]]
[[Category:The New Yorker staff writers]]
[[Category:University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni]]
[[Category:Virgin Records artists]]
[[Category:Writers from Saint Paul, Minnesota]]
[[Category:Novelists from Minnesota]]
[[Category:Anoka High School alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:Independent bookstores of the United States]]