Garrison Keillor blends humor and storytelling in Missoula and Billings
Garrison Keillor, America’s acclaimed humorist and public radio host, returns to Missoula April 4 and Billings April 6 with his show, “Just Passing Through.”
Keillor went to work for Minnesota Public Radio in 1969, and on July 6, 1974, he hosted the first broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion in St. Paul. Today, some four million listeners on more than 600 public radio stations coast to coast and beyond tune in to the show each week.
Upon his retirement from A Prairie Home Companion last year, Keillor turned over the show to mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile. Keillor can still be heard on public radio when hosting The Writer’s Almanac.
Keillor has been honored with Grammy, ACE, and George Foster Peabody awards, the National Humanities Medal, and election to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His many books include Lake Wobegon Days, The Book of Guys, Pilgrims: A Wobegon Romance, and Guy Noir and the Straight Skinny (Viking).
In addition to hosting The Writer’s Almanac, he’s the editor of several anthologies of poetry, most recently, Good Poems: American Places (Viking). In 2006, Keillor played himself in the movie adaptation of his show, a film directed by Robert Altman. In 2007, he opened an independent bookstore, Common Good Books, in St. Paul where he lives with his wife and daughter.
Keillor performs at 7:30 p.m. April 4 at the University of Montana Dennison Theater (call 406-243-4051 or visit griztix.com); and 7:30 p.m. April 6 at the Alberta Bair Theater in Billings (256-6052 or albertabairtheater.org).