Did You Know...

A native of Anoka, Minnesota, Gary Edward Keillor's childhood north of Minneapolis is perhaps best defined by his family's membership in the Plymouth Brethren, a strict conservative Christian sect. Keillor may have chosen to be a radio personality because he did not see television until he was in high school. His family allowed radios, perhaps because dancing and drinking, among other vices, could not be heard.

By the time Keillor left home to attend the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, he had experienced a bit more of life, and at the university, he got into radio. Apart from that, he had a penchant for writing, and by 1969 he was making consistent sales of fiction to the New Yorker. Though he was selling his stories at $1000 a pop, he also took on the 6-9am slot for Minnesota Public Radio. His show was called 'A Prairie Home Companion'; he named it for a cemetery in Moorhead, Minnesota (across the state line from Fargo, North Dakota).

Five years into the morning program, Keillor got an idea for a variety show styled after Nashville's Grand Ole Opry. Basing it on what he knew, Keillor called it 'A Prairie Home Companion.' The show debuted live on Minnesota Public Radio on July 6, 1974. The audience of twelve did not quite fill the seats at the auditorium in St. Paul, so you can imagine how the applause sounded on the air.