Talk:Garrison Keillor

Discussion

Garrison Keillor is not Norwegian, he is Scottish. Relevant information corrected in article.

--ZekeMacNeil 17:29, 27 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Sorry, but he is Norwegian. Go to this site, search for the word "keillor", and read the paragrpah that mentions him. If you think that site is wrong, go to this site and search for "keillor", then read the paragraph that mentions his name. -Bert Sveen

GK has stated on numerous occasions that he is NOT Norwegian. (Nor is he a Lutheran, btw.) The bulk of his ethnic heritage is Scots-Canadian. Take it from the man himself.

Was it really necessary to include a quote that insults republicans? I love Garrison Keillor as much as the next guy, and I respect his views, but I'm sure there's a better quote out there that wouldn't offend so many people and still represent Mr. Keillor.--Nkrosse 20:54, Mar 30, 2005 (UTC)

>> Was it really neccesary to include a quote that insults republicans?

In my opinion the quote insulting Republicans is appropriate and relevant to the subject. Garrison Keillor is quite outspoken in his political beliefs and it would present a false image of the man to portray only his gentle, "folksy" side without his more agressive political "humor". Here are some other notable quotes from Mr Keillor:

"I am now the chairman of a national campaign to pass a constitutional amendment to take the right to vote away from born-again Christians. Just a little project of mine. My feeling is that born-again people are citizens of heaven, that is where their citizenship is, in heaven, it's not here among us in America." "A Prairie Home Companion" Radio Show, 6 November 2004

"The American public school, how remarkable it will seem someday. With the introduction of school vouchers, you got to send your kids to schools where they learned the TRUTH - your truth - Our Lady of Sorrows, Foursquare Millennial Gospel, Moon Goddess, Malcolm X, the Open School of Whatever, the Academy of Hairy-Legged Individualism, the School of the Green Striped Tie, you name it, and who could argue with the idea of free choice? - until you stop and think about the old idea of the public school, a place where you went to find out who inhabits this society other than people like you." -- Garrison Keillor (talking about other people's kids), "The Future of Nostalgia," New York Times Magazine, 29 September 1996

"We looked at a public school and decided to send her (instead) to a place where Miss Clavel is still in charge and children proceed in quiet lines into the building covered with vines, and of course, my daughter loves it there." - Garrison Keillor (talking about his own daughter, who attends a private school), “Daughter Dearest,” Time Magazine, 30 August 2004 . --Nobel_Savage 15:15, Jul 17, 2005 (UTC)

"Liberal Democrat?"

I strongly disagree with the labeling of Keillor as a "liberal democrat" (POV?) in the article. It's an overtly arbitrary and poorly-informed act to characterize someone's entire political beliefs with a two word epithet. Listeners and readers of keillor would note that he is "conservative" on many cultural issues. In fact, Keillor states this himself according to an article by Guardian books (http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/generalfiction/story/0,6000,1163066,00.html) I think the image most see when someone says "liberal democrat" is that of an angry picket-toting morally-ambivalent MIchael-Moore-style fringe man bent on furthering his partisan agenda. This is definitely not the image of Garrison Keillor. The article, if it covers his personal beliefs at all, should give a more comprehensive summary and a wider range of quotes, instead of being lazy and relying on an overused and tired one-sentence label.

Can we at least agree to put back in the fact that he is a democrat, considering the article that the political section links to has him use the phrase "Us Democrats"?

He himself identifies strongly with the term "liberal." see: [1]. Perhaps the modern term "progressive," or just saying that he is liberal (the word he chooses) in his political views. Flowrider 03:00, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

also - in the "writing" section - the phrase "doesn't clearly identify as a liberal or conservative" misrepresents the article linked as source material, which is an article extremely critical of President Bush and the modern Republican party. I changed the phrase and left the same link to accurately reflect Keillor's political views. Flowrider 03:20, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

MNspeak.com Controversy

As a current (and growing) event, I felt that this should be included. Calton seems to disagree; opinions on whether this should remain?

I think the MNspeak.com Controversy section should remain. Keillor is the trademark holder of PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION and he has acted officially to restrict MNspeak.com. It is appropriate to report these facts objectively and neutrally in a timely manner. --Fjarlq 20:32, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

I did a Google search, and the only hits about this so-called cause celebre came from MNspeak.com itself. When it's an actual controversy (say, when it's reported by a news outlet) and not an apparent attempt by MNspeak.com to pump up their Google hits, then it should be included. Wikipedia is not in the business of publicizing MNspeak.com and whatever their cause de jure is. --Calton | Talk 00:19, 14 September 2005 (UTC)

Try googling "Garrison Keillor" and "MNspeak.com" now - numerous hits, including actual newspapers (TwinCities Pioneer Press, among others). And for what it's worth, though I wrote the original blurb, I have no affiliation with MNspeak.com. In fact, I'd never heard of them until this story came to my attention. Assume good faith. 70.27.71.137 07:19, 14 September 2005 (UTC)

Agreed. I'd never even heard of MNspeak until now, and I'm aware of the case. --Spudtater 12:49, 14 September 2005 (UTC)

I [whoops, I wasn't logged in as me, sorry] just changed the language "he [Keillor] sued" to "his lawyers sent a cease-and-desist letter" because as of today that is the only formal action that has occurred, per the news stories and MNspeak.com's own discussion. A lawsuit may or may not follow. Personally, I feel there's a slight bias in the current language ("attracted some negative press"; and it's arguable whether "Prairie Ho Companion" is genuinely 'parody' of Keillor's show or its trademarked name), but not quite enough to complain about other than right here. --Dsewell 23:36, 15 September 2005 (UTC)

I think this should be dropped - it seems petty and I don't think it is a relevant fact at all. Celebrities have lawyers that look after their trademarks all the time. This could be the 50th time a simple letter has been sent out to someone who has leaned on the trademark of "A Prairie Home Companion". Should we update the entry every time that happens? It does not define Garrison Keillor in any way to say - Garrison Keillor's lawyer did something and it made some news in some blogs online. It really seems like it is information's only function is to tie MNspeak with free advertising via Wikipedia. Doing a google search does not turn up much of any real newspapers besides the TwinCities Pioneer Press, and that story seems to be more about MNspeak than Keillor. Most all the entries are internet blog entries - and are copies of the MNspeak story. rex8 12:06 19 September 2005

It's definately making the blog rounds, which makes it newsworthy, at least IMHO. And lately, the traffic on this psge seems to be completely dedicated to the MNSpeak issue. Rather than get into an edit war, I think it's worth leaving *something* about this - at least while people are interested and the subject is trendy. We've already reduced it down to a sentence. 70.27.71.137 06:13, 20 September 2005 (UTC)

I strongly feel we should have something about this in the article. Our aim is to illuminate, and this particular C-and-D letter, it seems to me, tells us something more about Keillor than simply that he's a businessman trying to protect his interests. Fair disclosure: I used to be something of a fan of his, until this incident; now, I'm not so sure. WMMartin 12:13, 20 September 2005 (UTC)

Basically all we are saying is Garrison Keillor hired a guy to do a job - and that guy did his job. Should we add a paragraph about how Garrison Keillor's gardener used too much nitrogen on the grass of Keillor's front lawn - and then Keillor received some negative press in the community news bulletin because his grass was brown. Neither of these things are important enough to be in this entry. I also think that leaving something in "while people are interested and the subject is trendy" speaks more to the fact that this line's purpose is for advertising and striking while the iron is hot - not for illuminating anything. Rex8 14:10, 21 September 2005 (UTC)

Rex, you're exactly right when you say that Keillor hired a guy to do a job, and the guy did his job as well as he could. The interesting point isn't that the lawyer shot off the letter, but that in the ensuing brouhaha Keillor hasn't said "oops, silly lawyer hasn't got the sense of humor". So far as I know, Keillor hasn't said anything. The illumination comes not from the noise, but from the silence. WMMartin 19:13, 21 September 2005 (UTC)

And this is my point exactly. Keillor might not care or even know about the t-shirts. If a lawyers job is to look after the trademark of his/her client, than that is what he or she does. A lawyer doesn't need to have "the sense of humor" at all. Weather he thinks it is funny or not, he can still send a letter and say - "Keillor wants you to stop making money off of his ideas. And while this might be a parody; I would rather hear it from a judge, than some guy with a blog." This is why I think this entry should be removed. None of this really defines Keillor at all. The silence that is so illuminating to WMMartin could be the fact that the lawyer didn't bother to tell Keillor about the t-shirts, as it was 1 of 20 things that he did for him that day. This is my third edit on this page and I am not going to spend any more time on this. I think if you really look at it - you will see that the brouhaha is all from MNspeak, and this whole entry is nothing more that a bruised ego from a blogger that has a lot of time on his hands. Rex8 07:18, 22 September 2005 (UTC)

Lutheran

GK is not Lutheran. He is steeped in it though, any semi-ruralite Minnesotan can tell you, much of Minnesota is Lutheran-minded. He pokes good fun of the Lutherans, and the Roman Catholics too.

• • I thought he was Episcopalian. I'll check. aliceinlampyland 14:18, 22 February 2006 (UTC).

Specifically, Keillor has stated that his family's religious origins were in the Plymouth Brethren, an unusual Protestant sect in which each invididual family is essentially its own denomination-Ken Burch KenBurch 21:18 17 March 2007 (UTC)

In his Lake Wobegon persona he is a member of the "Sanctified Brethren". Saxophobia 20:47, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

GK Strikes Fear Into His Very Own PHCOMPANIONS

Here's the very latest news from Minnesota about the "shy-ster" prairie poet from Anoka, MN. Once again he throws a scare into his PHCompanions by threatening to leave the Fitzgerald Theater, a venue that Minnesota Public Radio actually BOUGHT for him, saving it from the wrecking ball. His threats come from a long line of artsy pouting and running away. The first time is when he fled with one of his many wives to Denmark over some remark from a local writer. He came back only to pull this stunt again and again. Most of us around here would be glad to see him go, finally, and with no unhappy returns! Of course, Garr is no fool. He has St. Paul-based Minnesota Public Radio in the palm of his lilly-white, limp-wristed hand. Would William Kling fire him? Not likely. He's a cash cow in the MPR nationwide radio network. And he'll pull this phony act again. (Unsigned comment by IP 209.173.230.125)

Links to Wives

I'm new to this and don't really know how to edit anything. However, the links to article on Jenny Lind Nilsson, etc. lead nowhere.

Red links go nowhere because no one has yet created a page with that name. 69.129.36.131 20:23, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

external Honda link not working

The link to Grr Grr Advert - Honda - "Hate Something, Change Something, Make Something Better" http://multimedia.honda-eu.com/diesel/Movie.swf doesn't lead anywhere.

This one works: [2] Someone deleted all links to Honda ads, perhaps because they, um, advertise Honda : ) But I'm glad they were on the page back when I saw them, I liked hearing the ad and Garrison's voice. Also, the actual commercial itself isn't very Honda-ish until you see the end. I think some version of the Grr advert should remain, because it's art, beautiful, and voiced over by Garrison Keillor. But that's me. Gaviidae 12:38, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

Norwegian?

According to the APHC website, Keillor is of Scottish ancestry on both his mother's and father's sides. See Question 3 of the Quiz. Is there any verifiable evidence that he has any Norwegian ancestry? older ≠ wiser 01:40, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

Revisions

Tried to spruce things up a bit. Other than fleshing out some of the bio, I did remove the quotes. Those are all duplicated at Wikiquote. Really, a few quotes would have been fine, but there was waaaay too long of a list in the article. NickBurns 02:37, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

"Second Coming Republican" redirects here..

I managed to follow a link from Second Coming Republican to this article and I'm puzzled as to why. Presumably there should be a reference somewhere in the article, otherwise this redirection is going to cause confusion as it has done for me. If the article is not amended, I may remove this redirection. I get the impression that it used to be a free-standing artcle that was merged to this one. Diliff | (Talk) (Contribs) 11:36, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

The article that was previously there basically contained no reliable sources; see Talk:Second Coming Republican and I don't see the point of merging its info into this article. I'd put it on redirects for discussion but I have to leave soon and I won't have the time until tomorrow. Graham87 13:52, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

Lutheran, Norwegian

So in this talk page there's been a smattering of discussion over Keillor's alleged Norwegianness and Lutheranism. Norwegian he most certainly isn't, so I'm being bold and removing that from the article. As for the Lutheranism, in an article in Christianity Today he says, "I went to a Lutheran church in New York, which I really loved; being Lutheran in New York City is an experience."[3] I guess this qualifies him as having 'been Lutheran,' albeit barely, so I'll leave that alone. Bws2002 17:15, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

The Gay Dad Column Controversy

Some mention of the 3/14/07 column should remain in the article, as the perception of homophobia and xenophobia the column creates will stick with Keillor for the rest of his public life.

Frondelet 14:56, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

I'd like to add a mention of his clarification of the issue - he spefically addressed it and apologized and that is not yet treated here. Flowrider 07:06, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Question - because I'm fairly new - that entire section appears to be gone, but such does not appear in the edit history.  ??? Flowrider 03:03, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

That's because all of you are wimps and haven't added it. 68.0.113.54 11:47, 22 March 2007 (UTC)