The Plowboy Interview GARRISON KEILLOR

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

After all, not everything that's real is on paper. And if everything that is on paper were real, this would be a sorry world to live in.

PLOWBOY: Garrison, there are a couple of things I've been wondering about Lake Wobegon. For starters, just what is the secret ingredient in Powdermilk Biscuits?

KEILLOR There's disagreement about that. They're made from whole wheat that's raised by the Norwegian bachelor farmers, but those men use an old milling process that incorporates the wheat and the bran and a good deal of the husk. And they get some of the stalk in there . . . and a little dirt, too—it doesn't hurt you. So take your choice. Whichever one of those is the secret ingredient for you, then that's it, and you should have as much of it as possible.

PLOWBOY: Where did the Whippets, Lake Wobegon's softball team, get their name, and how are they doing this season?

KEILLOR The Whippets are named after the dog, not the song. It's a racing dog, which actually nobody in Lake Wobegon ever had or saw, but folks liked the name of it. It kind of made the team sound good to call it the Whippets—the name implies speed and victory at the same time.

And how are they doing this year? Well, the Whippets were expected to be in a building year this year. But despite that fact, they have done a lot better than I daresay anybody thought they were going to do. At this point in the season, they're certainly well ahead of projections for this time of the season. They have momentum, I think, to some extent, and a lot of the scores of the games do not reflect how close they really were. We look forward to the rest of the season with a great deal of hope and confidence.

PLOWBOY: What kinds of beer are served at the Sidetrack Tap?

KEILLOR Well, there's Iron Range beer, which is made from the sort of copper-colored waters up there in iron country. It's good for you. One bottle would have the minimum annual adult requirement for iron, practically. There's a new beer that they've gotten in, but people don't care for it much. It's called Gruenwald Light—mentholated light beer. It's greenish. Some people have tasted it by mistake at the Sidetrack because the light there is dim. And of course they serve all the local beers, including some that ceased production.

PLOWBOY: Why don't they sell dogs at Bertha's Kitty Boutique?

KEILLOR Sell dogs? Well, there are all sorts of stores, goodness knows. I mean, if you go down to the lower end of town, why you could buy all the dogs that you want. A dog—that's something most folks would never charge money for. Dogs are common, they run around in the streets. You can probably find dogs out digging in your yard. Just grab onto one: You've got yourself a dog.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print