One of the most prolific American storytellers of all time, Garrison Keillor, returns to Durango with his "Just Passing Through" solo tour at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 10. Produced by the Community Concert Hall, the show will be staged in the Fort Lewis College Whalen Gymnasium.
Writer and humorist Keillor is perhaps best known as the former host of the popular live radio variety show, "A Prairie Home Companion," which attracted some 4 million listeners on more than 700 public radio shows each week.
Born in Anoka, Minn., he began his radio career while majoring in English at the University of Minnesota. Upon graduation, he went on to work for Minnesota Public Radio, and by 1974 he'd honed his morning show into a live weekly variety program called "A Prairie Home Companion," with tales from the quiet, fictional Minnesota town of Lake Wobegon, "where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average." He hosted the show for 42 years before signing off as host in July 2016.
Keillor is also the host of the daily radio and online program, "The Writer's Almanac," and the editor of several anthologies of poetry including Good Poems: American Places. A best-selling author, he has published more than two dozen books, including Lake Wobegon Days, The Book of Guys, Pilgrims, Guy Noir and the Straight Skinny, and Homegrown Democrat.
In 2006, Keillor played himself, alongside a cast that included Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin and Kevin Kline, in the critically-acclaimed film adaptation of A Prairie Home Companion, directed by Robert Altman.
With Grammy, ACE, and George Foster Peabody awards, Keillor has been honored with the National Humanities Medal and election to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Despite suffering a stroke in 2009 and two seizures in 2016, Keillor continues to keep busy on a multitude of projects, including writing a memoir, penning a Washington Post column and developing a screenplay on Lake Wobegon, among other endeavors.
As he noted in the Des Moines Register, "As long as you're still getting up in the morning and pulling on your pants and going out for a walk, as long as you can still hear and see - no, you'll never run out of stories."
In 2007 he opened the independent bookstore, Common Good Books, in St. Paul, Minn., where he and his wife make their home.
View a video of Keillor's solo performance at The Winter Park Institute at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mKbLGX2lNE.
Tickets for Garrison Keillor are almost sold out, with some general admission tickets for $35 are available online at www.durangoconcerts.com, or call 247-7657, or visit the Ticket Office inside the Durango Welcome Center at Eighth Street and Main Avenue in downtown Durango. Ticket office hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. All sales are final.
