Public radio's first star as well as a bestselling author, Garrison currently has 48 titles in circulation, all from HighBridge Audio. The latest are a rendition of his recent hardcover, LAKE WOBEGON SUMMER 1956, and a Mark Twain "novelette," A MURDER, A MYSTERY, AND A MARRIAGE. Nearly all of his audios contain his own writings--either culled from public radio's "A Prairie Home Companion" and "A Writer's Almanac," or his books and articles. The PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION 25th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION won the 2001 Audie Award for Best Theatrical Production, and after half a dozen Grammy nominations, Keillor won the Spoken Word Comedy Grammy for LAKE WOBEGON DAYS.

During 27 years hosting "Prairie," he has honed a low-key, intimate narrating style, refining his original shy-guy persona into quite the sophisticated raconteur. He sounds as if he's sitting late in the evening in the armchair next to yours and leaning into your ear. His timing is impeccable, his characterizations incisively delineated. As in his writing, his humor has a patina of folksiness over a core of urban wit. In short, no one does his material better than he does himself. Though living nearly all his life in the heart of America's Lutheranland, the Minnesotan stems from British and Scottish stock. Of his parallel careers as writer and radio personality, he says, "Writing is pure entrepreneurship and a great way of life. And then, if you do a radio show every Saturday, you have a built-in social life. So it's a pretty good deal."

December 2006 Update
This year's IT'S ONLY A SHOW best-of collection reminds us how much pleasure listeners continue to get from Garrison's skits, monologues, jokes, and songs. DUSTY AND LEFTY dusted off several comedy skits about the cowboys, Garrison and Roy Blount, Jr., entertained with A VISIT TO MARK TWAIN'S HOUSE, and new episodes of GUY NOIR picked up an Audies nomination. And of course, Robert Altman's big-screen imagining of what happens backstage during the final broadcast of "A Prairie Home Companion," starring Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep along with GK, premiered in June.