Garrison Keillor Biography

Garrison Keillor	Garrison Edward Keillor Born: 1942-08-07 Birthplace: Anoka, MN Race: White Religion: Anglican/Episcopalian Political Party: Democratic Field: Radio Personality, Author Famous for: A Prairie Home Companion
Field: Radio Personality

Garrison Keillor is best known as the founder and host of the American Public Media show A Prairie Home Companion (also known as Garrison Keillor's Radio Show on BBC 7 and in Ireland). Keillor's trademark storyline is the weekly News from Lake Wobegon, a monologue about a fictional town (based on Anoka, Minnesota, Garrison's hometown), "where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average."

Keillor has also written many articles for The New Yorker and The Atlantic Monthly. Keillor is the host of The Writer's Almanac, a five-minute program which is broadcast daily on some public radio stations in the United States.

Mr. Keillor's works from The New Yorker and other magazines have been gathered into two collections : Happy to Be Here, published in 1981 (and later acquired, and republished with 5 additional pieces, by UK outlet Penguin Books) and We are Still Married, which features newer articles, literary outtakes, poems and additional Lake Wobegon tales which were all written by him in the 1980's.

Garrison Keillor did the voiceover for the 2003 Honda Accord commercial entitled "Cog". The two minute television ad features a complex system of car parts that react with each other to create a chain reaction similar to a Rube Goldberg cartoon. The commercial ends with Keillor asking, "Isn't it nice when things just work?" Keillor also sang the voiceover in the 2004 Honda Diesel commerical entitled "Grrr".

His laid back style is often the subject of criticism and parody. The Simpsons parodies Keillor in an episode where Keillor is shown reading his monologue and the studio audience laughing wildly, with Homer wondering, "What the hell's so funny?" In practice, Keillor rarely reads his monologue directly from the script, but the monotonous intonation and style of dress caricature Keillor successfully. 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.

During the summer of 2005, production began on a film version of A Prairie Home Companion written by Mr. Keillor and directed by Robert Altman.

Garrison Keillor was born in Anoka, Minnesota. He is six feet, four inches tall and is of Norwegian and Scottish ancestry. Keillor is a liberal Democrat. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor's degree in English in 1966. While there, he began his broadcasting career on the student-operated radio station, known today as Radio K.