Hello Garrison,
I have so many feelings since returning from the PHC cruise so I wrote this little poem.

AFTER THE MAASDAM

Twenty-four hours since on the ship
And yet I'm rocking, rocking still.
Lazy ceiling fan above my desk moves
Port to starboard, port to starboard.
I want to harmonize on one more chorus -
"Rolling home, rolling home..."

Familiar sheets and old down pillows
And yet I'm rocking, rocking still.
My back recalls a well-made bed
On the Main Deck 5, far back in the aft.
Though "Many thousand miles behind us,"
I am at home, I am at home.

Red book of sea songs here beside me
While I lie rocking, rocking still.
Instead of sleeping, recollecting
Half the faces, all the laughs.
I've almost memorized the second verse -
Oh no, "It is time to say adieu."

Diana Blair Revell
Brentwood, TN

Diana, I'm glad you liked that song, "Rolling Home To Old New England," although somebody told me that the correct title is "Rolling Home To Nova Scotia" ----- I did too and had a lovely time on the ms Maasdam with all of you, especially the communal singing and the talent show and of course the heated saltwater pool on the aft deck, which is my new standard for utter hedonistic pleasure. It was a great group, the 1200 of us, and that was what made the trip. I can't wait for the next one.

Dear Garrison:
I love your show. But what's happened to Bob the Artist? Why is he the stepchild of the family? We haven't heard him in ages.

Norman Parker
Van Nuys, CA

Norman, we haven't abandoned Bob, only neglected him, but we'll get him back in a couple weeks. Once again he'll be striving to reach the top of the arts world of Hubbard Falls, against the sarcasm of Pops and the tail thumping of Rex and the cholesterol overload of Berniece. And his nemesis, the competing collage artist M. David Sweezo who is a pet of Mrs. Chumley at the Art Center. I haven't written the episode yet but I believe that Bob is going to attempt homicide.

Dear Garrison,
My dad is a newly retired high school English teacher (33 years!) from Minnesota. We're throwing him a retirement party in October and my three brothers and I want to get him something very special for the occasion, but are at a loss for any brilliant ideas. The other night in bed it occurred to me that you would be the authority on this matter and maybe my salvationist. Can you help me out? I anxiously await your response.

Kate Parent
Colfax, WI.

Kate, What your dad would like, I'm sure, is a good speech by you at the party, which is funny and sentimental and admiring and also gives the old guy a poke or two. You've got plenty of time to come up with something good. Write it out, make it about ten minutes long, and rehearse it a couple times so you can do it without notes. And if you'd like something from me, I'd happily send you a copy of GOOD POEMS FOR HARD TIMES autographed for your dad and if you give me some info about him, I'll try to write a limerick on his name. But your speech is the best gift.

Dear Mr. Keillor,
I just graduated college and just about every adult I've encountered has given me advice about what to do now, and most of them contradict each other. For example, some say to do what I want and find my passion after dilly dallying and travelling for a few years. Others completely contradict that advice and tell me to go straight on to graduate school, get a decent job and start putting lots of money in a 401k.

How do you sort through the infinite, contradicting pieces of advice people always have to offer?

Best regards, David Polk Highland Park, IL

David, Be careful who you ask for advice, and don't ever ask advice on these big What-do-I-do-with-my-life questions. You can ask for advice about grad schools, or job seeking, or investment, or where to travel, but go to people with first-hand experience and no axe to grind and weigh their advice carefully. But when it comes to What-do-I-do, you have to follow your heart. And if your heart isn't talking to you, maybe you need to spend some time learning how to listen to it. I believe that a young person needs a period of freedom in their life, an interim period of a year or two or three, during which you get some experience, see some of the world, before you decide which chute to go down. But that's only my advice.

Hi Garrison -A few seasons back, you mentioned that you had hired some local co-writers for the first time in the history of the show. You also said that you weren't sure how it would work out, and that it was sort of an experiment. Well, is the experiment over, and if so, how did it work out?
Jeff

Jeff, some writers came in, some writers wandered out, others came, some are still here (last I looked), and I look forward to starting a new season September 24 with whoever wants to be aboard. It's hard writing for a show like this. I guess it is. People say so. I don't find it so. The problem may be that comedy is a young person's sport and nobody writing comedy is old enough to remember radio. Anybody writing comedy would give their left ankle to have a job on one of the enormous committees that write sitcoms. I don't know anything about sitcoms and don't care for committees. I would give my left ankle to have written for Bob & Ray. So there's the difference. Maybe I'm the last harnessmaker in town and everybody else is making belts and suspenders. I'd love it if someone would walk in and take over writing the show ----- except for the News from Lake Wobegon, of course ---- those are my people ----- and I could become an innocent bystander.

Mr. K.
I finally tired of the radio station in my kitchen playing classic rock from the 70's and 80's. I think I have heard all they have to offer and in trying to remember my childhood in Minnesota I became bored. I switched to our more local NPR station and heard a rebroadcast Saturday and Sunday morning of your PHC. Hearing the accent really reminded me of growing up in Biwabik and Silver Bay. Anyway, my question is this, have you ever ventured north to Isabella to go fishing or camping? My Gramma had a live bait and tackle shop in Isabella for years and years. She was a very manly woman I must say and very tough indeed. She caught all her own minnows, etc. and fished a lot. Her name was Dorothy Bildeaux.

Judy McGarry
Lewiston Idaho

Judy, I never camped at Isabella, and now I'm sorry I didn't. Dorothy sounds like someone a person ought to meet if you want to tell stories someday. I only drove through Isabella once on my way to Ely to go canoeing, which wasn't all that much fun, as I recall, probably because we had no Dorothy along to keep our spirits up. We paddled north, portaged six or seven times, ate bad food for a week, suffered from deerflies, worried about bears, and were glad to return to the Cities. I'm sure that your aunt would've had a different perspective on it all.

Hi Garrison,
I have listened to and enjoyed Prairie Home Companion for several years. One quick question that one of my co-workers asked is: The tax payers support public radio with their monetary contributions throughout the year. Why then can you make political statements that definitely lean heavily in favor of the Democrats? I am not bothered by this mainly because I too am a Democrat. My co-worker on the other hand is a Republican. Give me your response!

Marilyn Lake
Minneapolis

Marilyn, public radio is not supported by taxpayers, as a rule, but by corporate underwriting, the contributions of listeners, and by foundation support. NPR is not government-owned; it is a private, not-for-profit corporation funded primarily by program fees paid by public radio stations and a tiny sliver (about 2%) comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which administers money allocated by Congress for public broadcasting. Some public radio stations get up to 15 percent of their budgets from the CPB, a few stations in rural areas may get more, big-city stations get less. PHC doesn't get any taxpayer money directly. Our income comes from underwriting, program fees, ticket sales, product sales, and so forth, and we've been in the black for most of our history. As for political satire on PHC, it's pretty much an established rule in American life that when you are in power, you are the object of satire. This has been true since the Golden Age of Athens. We don't do much political anything on PHC because I am depressed about the state of the country so I'd rather talk about the weather, my daughter, fishing, Lutheran pastors, tomatoes, anything but politics. Your co-worker is barking up the wrong tree.

Good Afternoon Mr. Keillor,
Perhaps your most enthusiastic young fan is my 12-year-old son, Graham, who has been listening to you since before birth. (During pregnancy, he'd kick at the sound of your voice, I kid you not.)

Now in the seventh grade, the boy comes home every school day to play your 25th Anniversary Collection. And while you're very, very good, Mr. Keillor, you're not THAT good. My own sanity requires this child diversify.

Here's my question: What other audio humorists would you recommend for my quirky, playful pre-teen? In other words, to whom do you listen? I think a suggestion to try someone else might work if it comes from you rather than from mom.

Desperate Housemother,
Kim Hines
Evans, GA

Kim, you should send him to the old masters, Bob and Ray. They will make your boy forget all about me and learn to imitate Wally Ballou and Mary McGoon and do the Slow Talker routine and talk about the giant komodo dragon and so forth. Just go to the official website, bobandray.com, and take advantage of their summer sale, which ends September 9th. You can purchase Bob and Ray by the carload.

Hi Garrison,
I just wanted to thank you for being a link to home and family for me. I'm 22 and from a small town of 2700 in central Illinois. I moved to San Francisco three weeks ago, and this Sunday turned on your show. I never expected your voice to affect me so much, but the minute I heard your comforting tone I began to cry from homesickness for the first time. My dad and I listened to your show together on the weekends and on family road trips. We really appreciate being able to sit and laugh together, and we both love it when there's country and bluegrass musicians on the show. So thank you again for reminding me the midwest is still out there and home isn't really that far away.

Megan Weekley
San Francisco

Megan, you're far more adventurous than I was at the age of 22, moving halfway across the country, and you've earned the right to be homesick. And then let San Francisco make its way into your heart, as it surely will. You can listen to the show as you pedal your bicycle across the Golden Gate and down to Sausalito and then take the ferry back to the city. This is a wonderful jaunt that gives you a little exercise and some terrific views and fills your lungs with salt air. And whatever it was that drew you there, I trust will turn out well for you. We Midwesterners are highly adaptable people who are able to settle in strange territory, listen and learn, and acclimatize quickly. Good luck to you, Beautiful.

Dear Garrison:
Wonderful show you got going. I enjoy each and every show. I was wondering if you could tell me the brand of piano used on the show. It sure sounds good.

Mariano Tancredi
Audubon, PA

Rich Dworsky replies: "The piano at the Fitz is a Steinway Model D, a 9-foot piano, the largest Steinway makes. It was purchased new in 1987. While maybe not one's first choice for the old bar room blues piano sound, the Steinway D is a world standard for classical, jazz, and popular music performance. When we play Town Hall in NY, the Steinway D is provided by Steinway and Sons on West 57th St. from their "Concert and Artist" division. They have a number of beautiful "cherry-picked " pianos that Steinway rents out for concerts and recordings exclusively, and will not sell for a few years. Elsewhere on the road, we always request a Steinway D in "concert-ready condition". Sometimes they are the hall's house piano and every once in a while we find one that has been around since the 1940s and has definitely seen its better days. So "concert-ready" seems to be open to interpretation. Generally, though, I get to play on some fantastic pianos. There are a few places, like the show coming up in Kansas, where we'll be out in an open field in the hot sun, and a $90,000 Steinway would be out of place: it wouldn't be fair to the piano (or to the artist who may have to play a Beethoven Concerto on it the following night). So I'll play on some more modest piano, which will probably sound more appropriate for the occasion."