Post to the Host
GK responds to queries on topics from childbearing to potato salad, with a little bookstore fetish in between.

Send your own post to the host.
Here's your chance to ask GK your most pressing questions—about the writing life, the radio life, Lake Wobegon, Guy Noir, whatever you like. Also, feel free to send feedback about the show. Honest comments and criticism are always welcome!

Hello,
For years I have cleaned the barn on Saturday nights while tuned in to A Prairie Home Companion. My horse also listens and the barn gets calm the moment the show starts. The show has gotten me through some tough times, alone out there on cold nights cleaning that barn, thinking.

My question is about writing.

I have been a state trooper and detective for 20 years and have kept a record of sorts, jotting down things along the way. Real incidents, moments of passion, humanity, fear and sadness all in one.

How to get started?

Paula B.
West Cornwall, CT

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Hello Garrison,
I am taking a public speaking course in college. I recently saw you give a speech in Jacksonville, FL. I am wondering about the rhythm of your delivery, the perfectly placed pauses and slow tempo — is this something that you worked on developing, or did it just come naturally?

Sincerely,
Amy P.
Palm Coast, FL

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Saturday May 15 was a day off for the cast and crew and now the ship heads into the last month of the season, our string of big outdoor shows, plus the Fox in Atlanta, and then July vacation.

Back in September, there were some rumblings about the host of the show retiring and turning over the red shoes to someone else, and we've had fun with that on the show, with Erica Rhodes playing the airy designated replacement, but meanwhile life goes on. A 25-city Summer Love tour is scheduled for August and some of September. The annual State Fair broadcast is on the books for Labor Day weekend. The 2010-11 season is almost all inked in. We're discussing another Prairie Home cruise for 2011. I am working on a new Good Poems collection, and a memoir of 1966, a Guy Noir mystery, and have gotten a second wind on a Lake Wobegon screenplay. So life goes hurtling on.

I've been visiting an old friend at the VA hospital who is sinking, bravely, elegantly, even humorously sometimes, under a load of infirmities. On Sunday, he sat up and played on the mandolin a Scottish tune that he wants played at his funeral, by Neil Gow (1727-1807), his "Lament for James Moray of Abercairney." And he and I sang a duet of "Abide With Me." He and I were young when this show started in 1974, and when I walk away from his bedside, my step quickens. He is the same age I am, 67. One man goes down and his friends press on with renewed spirits. I am looking forward to Atlanta on Saturday and after that, Wolf Trap, Santa Barbara, Spokane, Cuyahoga Falls, Tanglewood and that beautiful crowd on the lawn, Ravinia, and I am excited about the August tour with Sara Watkins, Fred Newman, and the Shoe Band.

Onward and onward.

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To the Host:
I hope my question isn't too silly, but do you have any advice for overcoming low self-esteem and gaining confidence? I'm a college student who wants to be an artist but I have no faith in myself whatsoever, even when people tell me I'm good at sketching and writing, I just end up thinking that they don't mean it.

Did you ever have this problem? What did you do to overcome uncertainty?

Kala F.
Mount Morris, MI

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Post to the Host:
You do a masterful job of presenting the life-long woes of the English major. However, I will graduate next month with a degree that I believe is far more employment-challenged. Might you have career suggestions for someone with a Master's degree in Applied Theology?

Jeanne E. P.
Talent, OR

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How did the evacuation of much of the Times Square/Theater District affect the show on May 1?

Wasn't that about the time you were broadcasting live?

Kathy L.
Manhattan, KS

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