#AtoZChallenge: Keillor

Trying to think of a “K” word to tie in with my other #AtoZChallenge posts reminded me of an exercise we used to do in school to help learn each other’s names. Each student would recite their first name, then think of an adjective to describe themselves that began with the same first letter. If there was nobody with a “K” name before me, I would have been fine, because “kind” always came to my mind first. However, I was always the third or fourth “K” in my classes, which infuriated me. What good adjectives start with K? Well, for the purpose of this post, I’ve browsed dictionaries and even a thesaurus, and have not come up with a good one. So, for my #AtoZChallenge, K is not going to be an adjective, verb, or interjection, but a proper noun. K is for Keillor.

Yes, Garrison Keillor. It is a little bit of a stretch for this Challenge, but I make the rules so I’m sticking with it. Garrison Keillor is a writer, poet, columnist, essayist, and among many other things, the host of “The Writer’s Almanac,” a production of American Public Media. On this program, Mr. Keillor talks about birthdays of writers and authors, reads poetry and prose, and sometimes shares information about a significant anniversary, event, or fact, all in about five minutes. I started listing to “The Writer’s Almanac” during a fiction course in college, in which the professor would begin each class by playing Garrison Keillor’s rich voice through the shoddy auditorium speakers. I have continued listening to it a few times a week since then; it’s a nice way to start the day, end the day, or to spark up some mid-afternoon inspiration. Since each segment is only five minutes long, there really is no excuse for you not to start listening, too.

Start with today’s episode here, or spend an hour browsing the archives. And be sure to find out more about Garrison Keillor if you don’t know much about him already – you can visit his website for lists of his writing, tour schedule, and more.