Post to the Host

Host Garrison Keillor answers your questions about life, love, writing, authors, and of course, A Prairie Home Companion.

Send GK Your Question »

Hello Mr. Host: I've been

November 29, 2004 |

Hello Mr. Host:
I've been a fan since trudging through calf-deep snow to see you in Alabama. I have been in Toronto and heard a new colloquialism. It was windy and someone said, "It was blowing hard enough to blow a big dog off a chain."

Dan Moore
Charleston, SC

Dan,
I remember that Birmingham show well. It was balmy March when we arrived on a Friday morning and the snow started falling in the afternoon and it kept on and kept on, and by Saturday morning thirteen inches was on the ground. Downtown was deserted, but our equipment truck had arrived, so we set up for the show at the old theater, and we were astonished to see the audience start trickling in around five, bundled up, snow blown, red-faced, but cheery, most of them having hiked downtown on foot. No snow plows in Birmingham back then. During the intermission, I saw people in the lobby who were offering rides, and others organizing hiking parties. Emmylou Harris and her big tour bus pulled in during the show and climbed off and walked right out onstage and sang and there was a great male gospel group (the Searchlights?) and all in all it wasn't a bad show, but the audience was the amazing part. We could have just passed a microphone around for two hours and let people tell how they got to the theater.

Previous Post: « Dear Mr. Keillor, Lately, I've

Next Post: Dear Mr. Keillor, In your »