Keillor

When I was in law school in Minneapolis (and several times before that, for that matter), I went to Garrison Keillor's show "Prairie Home Companion" at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul.  He's become a severe critic of the GOP of late, but I still like him.  He's like no other.  Here are a few snippets about him and the midwest from today's New York Times:

Part of the reason Mr. Keillor loves New York, he says, is that it is full of people, but not long on human interaction. "It's great peace and quiet here," he said. "In St. Paul I know a lot of people, and it's always kind of tumultuous." Continuing, he added: "New York is a city where when I walk down the sidewalk and hoof it around town, things come to me, things just strike me. Can't really explain that. Maybe if I walked along a gravel road in North Dakota things also would strike me, but New York is pleasanter than that gravel road. So I love to come here."

...

As much as he loves New York with the fervor of a Midwestern immigrant, his loyalty is clear. After Mr. Keillor concluded his interview with a reporter at the Adoré, a woman from rural Minnesota dropped by his table to declare herself a fan. He was genuinely interested in what she had to say, and the fact that she is from where he is from, and yet was standing there in a restaurant in Manhattan.

"What appeals to me about Minnesota is that it has a stubbornness, it has a persistence. It treasures its own landscape," he said. "People who live in Minnesota really love to stay. They're not migrants. They're not people who are going to fold their tent in another year and go elsewhere."

Or even when they do, they will always be back.

Keillor will be broadcasting his show from the Corn Palace in Mitchell this spring!