Garrison Keillor | |
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![]() Keillor in 2009 | |
Birth name | Gary Edward Keillor |
Born | Anoka, Minnesota, U.S. | August 7, 1942
Medium | Radio, print, film |
Alma mater | University of Minnesota |
Years active | 1969–present |
Genres | Observational comedy, storytelling |
Subject(s) | American culture (especially the Midwest), American politics |
Spouse | Mary Guntzel
(m. 1965; div. 1976)Ulla Skaerved
(m. 1985; div. 1990)Jenny Lind Nilsson (m. 1995) |
Children | 2 |
Website | www |
Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (/ˈkiːlər/; born August 7, 1942) is an American author, singer, humorist, voice actor, and radio personality. He created the Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) show A Prairie Home Companion (called Garrison Keillor's Radio Show in some international syndication), which he hosted from 1974 to 2016. Keillor created the fictional Minnesota town Lake Wobegon, the setting of many of his books, including Lake Wobegon Days and Leaving Home: A Collection of Lake Wobegon Stories. Other creations include Guy Noir, a detective voiced by Keillor who appeared in A Prairie Home Companion comic skits. Keillor is also the creator of the five-minute daily radio/podcast program The Writer's Almanac, which pairs poems of his choice with a script about important literary, historical, and scientific events that coincided with that date in history.
In November 2017, Minnesota Public Radio cut all business ties with Keillor after an allegation of inappropriate behavior with a freelance writer for A Prairie Home Companion. On April 13, 2018, MPR and Keillor announced a settlement that allows archives of A Prairie Home Companion and The Writer's Almanac to be publicly available again, and soon thereafter, Keillor began publishing new episodes of The Writer's Almanac on his website.[1] He also continues to tour a stage version of A Prairie Home Companion, although these shows are not broadcast by MPR or American Public Media.[2]