Yo, Money...It Must Be The Shoes!

(I haven't seen the Spike Lee commercial in years, but I think that's how the line went.)

While Jordan and his Nikes turned out to be a pretty successful pair, I wonder if Spike would consider bringing back his tag line for, maybe...Garrison Keillor and his Sauconys.

Not the same allure, probably. But knowing what I know now, if I had to choose between going to see Michael Jordan or Garrison Keillor, I think I'd opt for the Sauconys.

Garrison Keillor: syndicated columnist, novelist, host of the Prairie Home Companion radio show on National Public Radio, proud Democrat, storyteller extraordinaire. And all-around odd duck.

I don't know what the significance of the red shoes and socks is, but in many of his photos online, and in this one taken by yours truly, there they are. They seem to be part of his trademark, along with a tie that he likes to tie a good four or five inches too long.

Several months ago, I barely knew who he was. I'd heard the name before, but that's about as much knowledge I had of him. A buddy of mine mentioned him several times in e-mails or in conversation: "I just read in Garrison Keillor's column this week that..."; or "Keillor told a great story about..."; or "You remind me so much of Garrison Keillor, except that you're a much better writer and should be way more famous than he is." (I may have stretched that last one a bit too far.)

My point is, I was bombarded with enough Keillor references that I started reading his columns, and when I found out that he was coming to Milwaukee as part of his promotional book tour, I found myself on the interstate, driving to see an author about whom I knew very little.

And I can't wait to go back.

Mr. Keillor has instantly vaulted up my list of favorites to somewhere near the top, and I now own two of his books, one called "Pontoon," a fourth book in his series of tales of Lake Wobegon, a fictitious town in his native Minnesota "where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average."

I was forced to buy that book as part of admission to see him that night, a bad rule in principle...but in hindsight, so well worth it. It cost me $37 for the book and admission to spend an hour and a half in his presence, and I think I'd pay that next time, even without the book!

The other book on his table of goodies that I couldn't resist purchasing was "Homegrown Democrat." Suffice it to say he's not the biggest George W. Bush supporter in the nation, often referring to him as the Current Occupant in his columns and books.

The evening with Keillor was engaging, entertaining, and filled with more than the occasional burst of laughter from the 900-ish people in the theater. His dry wit and command of the English language have made me an instant fan, and regular reader.


He often stood in front of the crowd with his hands stuffed into his suitcoat pockets, or his eyes closed as he reflected on a story, or possibly invented it as he went along. He was unassuming, perhaps a bit frumpy, but addicting at the same time.

As he walked out onto the stage and got close enough to the mic, he said, "It's good to be in Milwaukee, home of...the full serving." As he peered down at his belly: "The stains down the front of my...shirt, are...frozen custard from Leon's."

His timing was part of what made him so engaging, I think. He inserted pauses in his conversation that made you hang on his last word, anxious to hear what he was going to follow it up with.

Much of his monologue included his thoughts on turning 65 earlier this year. He has a residence in New York as well as Minnesota, and he spent some time out east for a while, saying, "New York is a great place to walk around when you're brooding." So much activity and life whirring around you, but people leave you alone for the most part.

Another observation of getting older: "We used to talk about ideas, and now we talk about medications."

He focused on the different generations and how they viewed life as they went through it, because he's got a son who's 38, and a daughter who's 9, and he's trying to make sense of how their lives, and his own, too, are different.

Back when he was a child, he said, they could stand up on the seat of a car while it was in motion; they ate ground beef and ground pork; and my favorite...they always made it to school, no matter what the weather. "School never closed when I was a boy. That is why we know how to spell!"

Also reflecting on days gone by: "We typed on an Underwood, and hit the keys hard. You had to mean it when you wrote something."

He's been on the radio with his Prairie Home Companion show for 37 years, and he said, "That's why there has to be someone on the radio, someone who knows this stuff. So that you remember there was a time before your time."

I could have listened to him all night, skipped work the next morning, and not cared one bit.

In describing his newest book, he said he was anxious to get back to writing a comic novel again, talking about how much he enjoyed writing this one. "It's not too long of a book, because you can't be funny for very long. Or, you shouldn't try."

To close the night, he took more than a handful of questions from the audience (next time I'll ask him about the shoes and socks!), and then regaled us with an a cappella Gospel tune called, "Lord, Won't You Come Down Here?" to which several members of the crowd joined in singing.

For the record...with Keillor, it's so much more than the shoes.
It's the words.

(although I think with Jordan, it was probably more than the shoes, too.)

"Some luck lies in not getting what you
thought you wanted but getting what you have,
which once you have got it you may be
smart enough to see is what you would

have wanted had you known."
—Garrison Keillor

"The funniest line in English is, 'Get it?'
When you say that, everyone chortles."
—Garrison Keillor