"It seems to me that to organize on the basis of feeding people or righting social injustice and all that is very valuable. But to rally people around the idea of modernism, modernity, or something is simply silly. I mean, I don't know what kind of a cause that is, to be up to date. I think it ultimately leads to fashion and snobbery and I'm against it."
Jack Levine: January 3, 1915 – November 8, 2010
LEVEL BILLIONAIRES OUT OF EXISTENCE
Sunday, July 3, 2016
A long and happy retirement, Mr. Keillor. I will miss your show but I have a lot of respect for someone who knows when to end even a good thing, even perfect, at times. You did a great last News segment.
Well, I was just thinking, yesterday, as I was getting up from weeding my garden that it was a lot easier when I was in my thirties, forties and fifties. And he has had the stroke and the seizures to focus his attention.
It must have been quite a lot of work to have written and produced a two hour show most weeks of the year. Between the skits and the News it was probably more than most of the writers of old time radio serials had to come up with every week and what they came up with wasn't generally near what Keillor did. I thought his ending where he faced the possibility that what he'd done is likely ephemeral was remarkable. When I was trying to get through all of the, then, published work of Mark Twain I kept thinking of how much that people found funny back then didn't seem funny to me. Though I imagine quite a bit of what he's done, available in his rendition of it, may seem funny for as long as there is small town life. I'll miss him. I don't think I'm going to like the show with Chris Theile, he's not a writer and, as primarily a performer, I think he's too apt to put himself forward too much. But we'll see. I remember being suspicious and skeptical of Prairie Home Companion at first because I was generally suspicious of nostalgia.
It's the second time he quit the show.
ReplyDeleteBut I think he means it this time.
Well, I was just thinking, yesterday, as I was getting up from weeding my garden that it was a lot easier when I was in my thirties, forties and fifties. And he has had the stroke and the seizures to focus his attention.
ReplyDeleteIt must have been quite a lot of work to have written and produced a two hour show most weeks of the year. Between the skits and the News it was probably more than most of the writers of old time radio serials had to come up with every week and what they came up with wasn't generally near what Keillor did. I thought his ending where he faced the possibility that what he'd done is likely ephemeral was remarkable. When I was trying to get through all of the, then, published work of Mark Twain I kept thinking of how much that people found funny back then didn't seem funny to me. Though I imagine quite a bit of what he's done, available in his rendition of it, may seem funny for as long as there is small town life. I'll miss him. I don't think I'm going to like the show with Chris Theile, he's not a writer and, as primarily a performer, I think he's too apt to put himself forward too much. But we'll see. I remember being suspicious and skeptical of Prairie Home Companion at first because I was generally suspicious of nostalgia.
His final remarks on Lake Wobegon were perfect.
ReplyDelete