The Plowboy Interview GARRISON KEILLOR

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Also, it's much easier to stand up on the stage in front of 1,600 people than it would be to stand up in front of 12 people, as we did when we started out ten years ago. And it's all the easier because I'm as nearsighted as I am. (I wouldn't say this to them, but I'll tell you . . . frankly, they're kind of a dim blur to me.)

And my suit may be old-fashioned, but it's not outlandish. At one time—you correct me if I'm wrong—the young and the debonair of the Midwest commonly went around the parks of Minneapolis in kind of cream-colored suits and wearing red ties and red socks. That was the fashion of my youth, so it's what I wear today. It may have been popular a long time ago, but what else could I wear? It's the only suit I have.

PLOWBOY: How would you describe your appearance?

KEILLOR I think you ought to get a police artist in to work on this. I'll just give you a few descriptive words to work from-tall, slender, dark wavy hair, very thin mustache, and dark glasses . . . and clothes like you wouldn't believe you could find in St. Paul, Minnesota.

PLOWBOY: That doesn't all go along with what our readers will see in the photos accompanying the interview, and certainly not with the glossy promotional photos I've seen.

KEILLOR Well, I have no idea what the promotion people sent you. Some people around Minnesota Public Radio have a greater sense of fiction than I do. That's why I'm recommending that you create a work of art with somebody who works courtroom trials and is used to seeing people like myself.

PLOWBOY: You mean we should try to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear?

KEILLOR You have to work from available material and improve on it—the same as we all try to do in life.

PLOWBOY: You've reacted strongly when people have said that "A Prairie Home Companion" is nostalgic or wistful. Why is that?

KEILLOR I don't think there is a longing for the good old days on "A Prairie Home Companion." There certainly isn't a longing for my good old days, because they weren't all that good. I wouldn't go back and live them over again on a dare and a bet.

I do have some wistfulness for about 9:30 this morning, though. I was really going good then on a fishing song that I was writing. If I could pick a point in my life I wouldn't mind going back to, that would be it . . . about 9:30 or a quarter to 10 this morning. It was good.

PLOWBOY: How are your parents and family handling your fame?

KEILLOR I don't know; I just hate to think about it. I mean, there's not that much fame to be a problem to anybody, but I come from a very sensitive family. Frankly, we just don't talk about it very often. Some things are better not discussed. It's just one of those ugly little family secrets that we have to live with.

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