Post to the Host

Comments from the week of September 11, 2022

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Question/Comment of the week

GK,

Just finished Boom Town. Home is where true love resides. I was likely the only Marine reading Keillor on the USS Inchon in the ’90s. Kept me sane … thank you. I was also one of very few on the entire ship that actually read books for that matter (2,000 crew members).

Listened to your radio program for many years and was always proud to wear my Powdermilk Biscuits T-shirt in high school.

Looking forward to more.

Thanks! 

Kirk

You’ve got a book of your own to write, Kirk, the memoir of a Marine who read books on an amphibious assault ship. I suppose you found quiet corners to read in but still people surely noticed you and conversations ensued. It’s interesting that you wanted to preserve your personal identity while remaining true to the Marine code of behavior. I will treasure this thought of my lone Marine reader. You made my day and more. GK

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Garrison,

Love your book That Time of Year, impressed with your genuine honesty and refusal to “humble-brag,” and of course your humor and gleefulness.

A retired licensed clinical social worker in community mental health, I listened to PHC every weekend and it may have saved my mental health. Now, I know that “crazy” is thriving more outside the diagnosed and certified.

Your autobio has given me the elbowing and pinching I need to continue my writing of poetry and short stories. I’m not far behind you in age. May we meet in the beyond. I’ll still be listening.

One more thing. I’m no Shakespeare scholar and you’re no King Lear but have to say you’re a man “more sinned against than sinning” (Me2).

Best,

Paul R. Scollan

Thank you, sir, and I’m glad to hear that a social worker is engaged in fiction. The short story deserves to be taken up by people whose professional lives let them see into the lives of others. I was so busy writing PHC that I missed out on the lives of a whole generation of nephews and cousins and now I look at them, mature, capable, venturesome, and wonder, “How did that happen?” One of them lives with his wife in Vietnam and raises twin girls, Mai and Vy, and I devour pictures of these tiny creatures, my view of a future I’ll never know. But I just had a mitral valve replaced so I can live a little longer and understand a little better. GK

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GK,

Regarding Biden’s inability to hurl insults, a comedian invented an insult bot for President Biden on Twitter. You may want to check it out.

Trevor Noah’s team created a Joe Biden “insult bot” on Twitter and it’s really something.

“Go howl at the moon, ya butterfingered milk licker.”

https://mashable.com/article/joe-biden-insult-bot-twitter

Bob Hall

San Francisco, CA

It’s too late, Bob. He spent so long in the Senate, learning cordiality. But I do wish the man himself could sometimes say some sharp words that are also witty. People would notice. GK

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Mr. Keillor,

Here is my limerick about writing a limerick.

While writing his very first limerick,
He started to feel quite ecstatic.
He fell into rhythm,
His wife joined in with him.
Who knew it could be so erotic?

Sally F.

I like the idea behind it but the syllable “ic” is not strong enough to hold up for three rhymes. Just go write a really dirty limerick and call it quits. GK

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GK,

There was a young fellow named Frederick
Who was certain he could rhyme with limerick.
Try as he might,
To give up this fight,
He persisted and wound up a maverick!

Willie K 

This is not bad, Willie. The two-syllable rhyme saves it and the inner lines are strong. I’d give you a cake if I had a cake. GK

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Dear Garrison,

So glad your recovery is going well. Please take your eyedrops and walk vigorously.

A heartsick old fellow from Limerick
Ate seven whole bottles of turmeric.
It cured his aorta
And valves, and it sorta
Expanded his artery femoric.

Jackson Craft

Thank you, sir. Now turn your attention to serious things, leaf-raking, social justice, reduced use of plastics. GK

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Mr. Keillor,

I found your rendition of the Missouri Waltz online with The Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band. Since I found it, I have watched it many times. That tune has always been a favorite since I first heard it in the ’50s. Your playing of it is First Class. 

Regards,

Derek

Kent, England

It’s a sweet old song, Derek, and I guess you and I have a weakness for those. It’s got Mammy in it and Dixie and banjoes but there are no darkies picking cotton, so it’s singable. I come from up North, no banjoes until the folk revival of the Sixties, and sometimes when my mom was in the mood she sat down at the piano and we stood around her and sang, “Abide With Me” and “It Is Well With My Soul” and I tried to find the alto part. When my friend Bill Hinkley was dying at the VA Hospital in Minneapolis, he asked me to help him to the toilet — he could barely walk — and I helped him up and he asked me to sing “Abide With Me” and I did, holding him in my arms, he singing with me, heading for the head, “When other helpers fail and comforts flee, Help of the helpless O abide with me,” and that scene is permanently framed in my mind. I’m glad you remember the waltz. GK