Why I used to like Garrison Keillor. | Captain Digital

Why I used to like Garrison Keillor. | Captain Digital

"Keillor was - and is - at his best when he pokes gentle fun at the day-to-day lives of people, hypocrisy, and human nature. As he became more political, his comments became more mean-spirited and less funny."

My comment:

I started listening about the same time [mid '80s] and listened religiously until he said farewell in 1987. I loved the gentle, affectionate satire of Keillor's Wobegon monologues, as well as the music (Butch Thomson Trio), spoof ads (Bertha's Kitty Boutique, in the Dales), and skits (Buster the Show Dog). He had some great guests, too, like fiddler Johnny Gimble, Michael Doucette, and Doc Watson. He introduced Bob and Ray to a new generation of radio fans.

Things were different after his comeback, and his pronouncements became increasingly divisive and bitter, perhaps reflecting the bitterness of his personal circumstances. I stopped listening.

A couple of years ago, I was given a pair of tickets to his appearance at Oral Roberts University. It was a birthday gift from a relative who remembered that I had been a big fan of his. To my pleasant surprise, he told Lake Wobegon stories and stayed entirely away from politics. Maybe he's relearning how not to poke his paying customers in the eye.

MORE: Spy magazine's prank on Keillor (in the early '90s, if I recall correctly) revealed a different side of the author.