June 9th, 2009
Garrison Keillor
The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes

America’s foremost humorist and social pundit, Garrison Keillor takes his skits and monologues across the country in his popular radio show, A Prairie Home Companion. American Masters trails this yarn-smith and his crew of actors and musicians as they spin stories and song into American gold in Garrison Keillor: The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes, premiering nationally Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 8 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings). DVD with additional features will be released by Docurama Films on July 7th.

Through the course of a year, an intimate lens captures Keillor on- and off- stage as he mingles fact and fiction to create America’s collective hometown, Lake Wobegon, on a radio program that carries bona-fide nostalgia. The result is a fascinating inside look at the enigmatic raconteur and how the imaginary world he created became a real place in America.

“Keillor is an American institution,” says Susan Lacy, creator and executive producer of American Masters, a six-time winner of the Emmy Award for Outstanding Primetime Non-Fiction Series. “His stories of Lake Wobegon speak to our inherent patriotism and bring back memories of a simpler time.”

On A Prairie Home Companion, Keillor’s running commentary about the human condition has the uncanny ability to home in on the pulse of America. Inventing his own brand of quirky small town stories and everyday characters, mixed with a witty dose of social politics and philosophy, Keillor relates a deeply felt reflection of ourselves, somehow familiar to us all.

“His writing is never from an elevated space, so he connects with his audience,” said Peabody and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Rosen. “But the production value of his show is highly elevated, and the novelty for viewers of this film will be to see how the magic happens.”

An author with more than 20 books to his credit and a syndicated weekly column, Keillor is also a highly sought after speaker and lecturer. He is credited with reviving the virtually lost art of live radio entertainment in America; his weekly radio show, started in 1974, has more than 4 million listeners and is broadcast on 590 stations. Keillor and his characters leapt onto the big screen and an even wider global audience in Robert Altman’s 20o6 film, A Prairie Home Companion.

Keillor’s down-home commentary and love of heartland America, have made him into an “everyman philosopher.” His highly entertaining radio show is written with a poet’s heart. While comparisons will be made between him and America’s great humorists and essayist – from H. L. Mencken to Mark Twain, from James Thurber, Robert Frost and Will Rogers – Garrison Keillor is unique. In this untraditional biography, we begin to see how and why.

Garrison Keillor: The Man on the Radio In The Red Shoes is a co-production of Peter Rosen Productions, Inc., THIRTEEN’S American Masters for WNET.ORG and ITVS. The film is produced and directed by Peter Rosen and written by Sara Lukinson, based on the monologues of Garrison Keillor. Executive Producers are Susan Lacy and Sally Jo Fifer. Sally Jo Fifer is Executive Producer of ITVS. Susan Lacy is the creator and Executive Producer of American Masters.

American Masters is produced for PBS by THIRTEEN. To take American Masters beyond the television broadcast and further explore the themes, stories, and personalities of masters past and present, the companion Web site offers interviews, essays, photographs, outtakes, and other resources. American Masters is made possible by the support of the National Endowment for the Arts and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional funding for American Masters is provided by Rosalind P. Walter, The Blanche & Irving Laurie Foundation, Jack Rudin, The André and Elizabeth Kertész Foundation, and public television viewers.

63 Responses to “The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes”
  1. Reader says:

    This author is not one of my faves, I tried many times to read a book he wrote called “Happy To Be Here,” but just could never get into it. His radio show never interested me, either. I plan to donate the book to the library. Maybe a Keillor fan will be happy to get this trade paperback book, still in excellent condition, at a bargain basement price. (I paid $8.95, plus tax, for it.)

  2. joseph henry wilkinson says:

    Aloha Dear Friend,
    I hope all is wonderful with you, your O’hana and extended companions at the Prairie Home. I have written a set of several couplets. These couplets were written in less than an hour. It was not until I had completed the, “Convoluted
    Rhyme” that I picked the Oxford Dictionary and looked the word ‘convolutions’ up.
    With Aloha I share my vision with you:
    We construct the longest poem this side of Venus, or maybe less. The convoluted rhymes could be put on the internet where anybody could continue the poem by adding his/her own creative couplet. There would be no limit as to how many couplets one submits. Before, or, after the poem the individual could tell the World, who they are, where they live and/ at what point of the globe they stand at that very moment.
    I imagine a ’Joke” night and perhaps the most popular ‘convoluters’ (You won’t find that word in “any” dictionary) would get a chance to “Share some Air-time.
    With fun, and anticipation, I look forward to hearing from you.
    Joseph Henry Wilkinson, Volcano, the Island of Hawaii

    Mahalo

    The Convoluted Rhyme

    By Joseph Henry Wilkinson

    This mystical shape-shifter
    Has woke us just in time
    We realize there is nothing so great
    As a convoluted rhyme

    A decent convoluted rhyme
    May take you by surprise
    It may even give the Bel
    Le laughter a rise

    Tune into Garrison Keillor
    At six on Saturday night
    Just turn on the talking box
    And set the volume right

    Listen to Garrison’s poetry
    And surely you will find
    At least one clever
    Le placed convoluted rhyme

    So tune into Garrison
    And listen to his rhymes
    So for sure; he is the best
    In these convoluted times

    Listen-in to our companion
    Check out the tunes and rhymes
    They may even change your mood, if
    You tap your toe in time

    ((Copyright Joseph Henry Wilkinson 2011))

    We should have a big contest
    It will surely be sublime
    We’ll post the top one-hundred
    Convoluted rhymes

    There will be a big cash prize
    For winners; seven to twenty-nine
    The top six will get a paper saying
    Better luck next time

    We’ll sing ‘em around the campfire
    Make’em up, or add a line
    There is something educational
    About a Convoluted rhyme

    Remember when writing this stuff
    Keep rhythm and rhyme in time
    And never pass the opportunity
    For a Convoluted rhyme

    Some of your rhymes might sound quite dumb
    But there is no need to fear it; thank the IS’
    And all that’s good
    There was no one around to hear it

    We may be short on corn this year
    And we are almost out of wine
    Thank goodness there’s no shortage of
    The convoluted rhyme

    Choose your favorite color
    Be it gray, dark-brown or lime
    Remember, all we’re trying to do
    Is make a convoluted rhyme

    I’ve made it to the top of the mountains
    It was one of my toughest climbs
    At last! I’m free! there’s no one here
    Making convoluted Rhymes
    ((Copyright Joseph Henry Wilkinson 2011))

  3. dorothy childers says:

    I
    just finished watching the most intertaing program on opb. the station by its self is the best, but watching
    garrison keillor just made it so very good. Thank you mr. keillor for being human and wanting to talk to all of usand making me feel so important I am going to order the dvd of red shoes and have my grand son watch it with me. Thank you again.

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