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

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June 18, 2007 |

Dear Garrison,
Greetings from sunny Oslo. Your show became a highlight of the week for me the last two years while living on the Big Island of Hawaii with my wife. The morning of November 11. 2006 I spent running through the streets of Honolulu on my way to the Blaisdell center trying to get a last minute ticket to one of your shows there. But the line was too long. In the meantime I have convinced my beautiful wife to come back to Norway with me. I'm wondering if there will be a show for the general public when you are here in Oslo in July?

Tusen takk for et fantastisk show, still listening over the internet...

take care,

Lars
Oslo, Norway

The story of how a Norwegian lands on the island of Hawaii and then emigrates back to Oslo is the really fascinating part of your letter, Lars, and in classic Norsk fashion you have obscured yourself and focused on the trivial, the scheduling of a show. I don't think there will be a public performance of PHC in Oslo since I'll be there with my family and should entertain them, though of course accidents can happen, but the REAL question is: how are you? and what happened? My guess is that you had to flee Norway due to some terrible scandal — perhaps you failed to put your old newspapers into recycling — and you went to Hawaii and were redeemed by the love of a beautiful native woman, married her, and now you've returned to the North to teach your countrymen the art of living. A noble intention, and when you're defeated there, then you should come to Minnesota and try to teach us. Meanwhile, I hope it'll be sunny in Oslo when we arrive in mid-July. I was there once before, on
my birthday about seven years ago, and sat with my wife at an outdoor cafe near the harbor and life seemed utterly delicious.