November 13, 2002

I believe in looking reality straight in the eye and denying it.
Garrison Keillor

Garrison Keillor, humorist and celebrated host of America's most popular radio shows, Prairie Home Companion and The Writer's Almanac, will discuss his new books Good Poems (Viking) and Lake Wobegon Summer 1956 (Penguin) as guest of the Kentucky Author Forum on Nov. 13, 2002, in Louisville.

In Good Poems, Keillor selected poems from The Writer's Almanac, a popular morning show on public radio. These are poems, which Keillor writes, "make people stop chewing their toasted muffins and turn up the radio and listen." Lake Wobegon Summer 1956 evokes his growing-up days in semi-rural Anoka, Minn. The Chicago Tribune described Lake Wobegon as a "town that lies not on any map but somewhere along the border of his imagination and his memory."

Now an American icon, Keillor is widely praised as both funny and touching, someone able to point out people's foibles without condemning them. According to a review in the Houston Chronicle, "No one tells a story better...the unerring ear that has earned Keillor admiration on public radio translates perfectly onto the page -- in this case better, there being some things one still can't say on radio...He's Will Rogers with grammar lessons, Aesop with no ax to grind, the common man's Moliere."

With his most lasting fame likely to center around A Prairie Home Companion radio show, Keillor has made a lasting contribution to the literary world, the art of story telling, public broadcasting and American culture. His many honors include the George Foster Peabody Broadcasting Award, Edward R. Murrow Award from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Grammy Award for best nonmusical recording, Los Angeles Times Book Award nomination, and a Gold Medal for spoken English from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is an inductee of the Museum of Broadcast Communications and Radio Hall of Fame.

An estimated 5 million listeners tune in each week to hear Keillor's stories from the fictional small town of Lake Wobegon, Minn., where "all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average." Because his fundamentalist parents banned television until Keillor was in high school, Keillor became a devoted listener of popular radio shows such as Fibber McGee and Molly. His keen observations of life around him helped create the radio show that is a mainstay of public radio broadcasting nationwide.

Please enjoy "An Evening with Garrison Keillor."

Wednesday, November 13, 2002

10 a.m. Discussion with Garrison Keillor, at Bigelow Hall, Miller Information Technology Center,moderated by John Hale, director of liberal studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, open to U of L students, faculty and staff. Seats are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. The event is free.

Kentucky Center for the Arts
5 Riverfront Plaza, Downtown Louisville

The evening's activities are as follows:

5 p.m. Hawley-Cooke Booksellers book sale and wine and cheese reception provided by Brown-Forman, Lobby

6 p.m. "An Evening with Garrison Keillor", Bomhard Theatre.

Master of Ceremonies is Forum Editor/Book Editor Keith Runyon of The Courier-Journal

7 p.m. Q & A followed by book signing on Bittners' stage set

A $16 ticket includes the above three events. A limited number of discounted tickets of $5 each is available for U of L students, faculty and staff at the KCA box office --U of L photo ID is required.

8:15 p.m. Dinner with the author, hosted by the University of Louisville, at 626 West Main, Brown-Forman Corporation's newly refurbished urban redevelopment project.

A $100 package ticket includes the above events plus dinner with Garrison Keillor, catered by 211 Clover Lane Restaurant. (Proceeds go to the nonprofit Kentucky Author Forum, $35 is tax-deductible.)

Tickets available at the Kentucky Center for the Arts, 502-584-7777(1-800-775-7777). In addition calls may be placed through TicketMaster at 502-361-3100.

A taped version of the event will be made available at The Louisville Free Public Library, St. Matthews/Eline Branch, 3940 Grandview Ave., at 2 p.m., Nov. 15. There is no fee involved, but those interested must sign up in advance due to limited seating. Call the library directly at 574-1771 for further information.

WFPL 89.3 FM and the Kentucky Education Network (KET) will record the event for future broadcast, which will be distributed nationally to PBS affiliates.

The Kentucky Author Forum series is produced by Mary Moss Greenebaum and sponsored by the University of Louisville and Brown-Forman in cooperation with Hawley-Cooke Booksellers; Bittners of Louisville; WFPL, Louisville's NPR Station for News; The Courier-Journal; KET, the Kentucky Network; and the Kentucky Center for the Arts.

624 West Main, Second Floor
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
Phone 502.589.2884
Fax 502.589.4334
email KYFORUM@aol.com