In 1956 Minnesota, fourteen-year-old Gary receives an Underwood typewriter and enters the world of writing while coping with an adolescent libido and a hopeless crush on his seventeen-year-old cousin Kate.

Recalls the early history of Lake Wobegon and many of its memorable characters and places first met on "A Prairie Home Companion" radio program.

Jack Schmidt, Arts Administrator -- Don : the true story of a young person -- My North Dakota railroad days -- WLT (the Edgar era) -- The Slim Graves Show -- Friendly neighbor -- Attitude -- Around the Horne -- The new baseball -- How are legs, Sam? -- U.S. still on top, says rest of world -- Congress in crisis : the proximity bill -- Re the tower project -- How it was in America a week ago Tuesday -- Shy rights : why not pretty soon -- Mission to...

In Cheerfulness, veteran radio host and author Garrison Keillor reflects on a simple virtue that can help us in this stressful and sometimes gloomy era. Drawing on personal anecdotes from his young adulthood into his eighties, Keillor sheds light on the immense good that can come from a deliberate work ethic and a buoyant demeanor. "Adopting cheerfulness as a strategy does not mean closing your eyes to evil," he tells us; "it means resisting our drift...

The New York Times -bestselling author returns to his mythical prairie town, where a mysterious outbreak has the locals losing all their inhibitions . . . A troublesome virus has infiltrated the good people of Lake Wobegon, transmitted via unpasteurized cheese made by a Norwegian bachelor farmer. The most alarming symptom is episodic loss of social inhibition. Mayor Alice, Father Wilmer, Pastor Liz, the Bunsens and Krebsbachs, formerly taciturn elders,...

With the warmth and humor we've come to know, the creator and host of A Prairie Home Companion shares his own remarkable story. In That Time of Year, Garrison Keillor looks back on his life and recounts how a Brethren boy with writerly ambitions grew up in a small town on the Mississippi in the 1950s and, seeing three good friends die young, turned to comedy and radio. Through a series of unreasonable lucky breaks, he founded A Prairie Home Companion...

What do Grammy winner Garrison Keillor, Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Maya Angelou, acclaimed novelist Laurie Colwin, and National Book Award winner Tom Wolfe have in common? On a November night in 1990, this quartet of accomplished writers and performers united for a worthy cause- to participate in readings to benefit the homeless. Recorded live at Symphony Space in New York City, the event was hosted by yet another luminary,...

What does it take to keep Jazz Age music going strong in the 21st century? Two words: Vince Giordano -- a bandleader, musician, historian, scholar, collector, and NYC institution. For nearly 40 years, Vince Giordano and The Nighthawks have brought the joyful syncopation of the 1920s and ‘30s to life with their virtuosity, vintage musical instruments, and more than 60,000 period band arrangements. This beautifully crafted documentary offers an intimate...