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Subject	Message	Replies
Garrison Keillor got it wrong Date: 07-27-2017 By: Colonel	Jean Shepherd's 96th birthday was yesterday -- July 26, 2017 -- and Garrison Keillor celebrated the event by including Shep in the day's NPR broadcast of The Writer's Almanac. Unfortunately, Garrison got a number of his facts wrong. I have informed his staff at Minnesota Public Radio, where the show is produced. Watch this space for any response. Meanwhile, here is a posted version of the program (the actual audio may be accessed at http://writersalmanac.org/ ): It's the birthday of humorist Jean Shepherd, born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1925. He's remembered for the autobiographical stories he told on the radio about a boy named Ralph Parker growing up in Hohman, Indiana. One of his stories was made into the movie A Christmas Story (1983), which Shepherd narrated. It's about a boy who wants a BB gun for Christmas, even though every adult in his life says that he'll shoot his eye out. The stories he told on-air were always improvised, but he later wrote them down and published them in collections like In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash (1967) and Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories and Other Disasters (1972). How many mistakes can you find? Brass figliggies will be awarded . . . .	2

Replies

Date	Member	Message
07-27-2017 ( Reply#: 9159 )	Colonel	Just received this response from the staff at MPR: From: Burgess, Theresa <tburgess@mpr.org> Sent: Thu, Jul 27, 2017 4:26 pm Subject: RE: Mistake in TWA of July 26, 2017 Jean, Thanks for the email concerning the accuracy of The Writers Almanac. Your message has been forwarded to our producer. The Writer�s Almanac with Garrison Keillor 611 Frontenac Place Saint Paul, MN 55103 We'll see what, if anything, I hear from the producer . . . . Keep watching this space. And, NO, my name is not Jean!
11-30-2017 ( Reply#: 9162 )	Colonel	Well, I never heard back from Garrison Keillor or his producer regarding the mistake(s) made in his piece about Shep on The Writer's Almanac last July 26. So I have mixed feelings about the recent events surrounding Keillor and his being severed from Minnesota Public Radio and National Public Radio. On the one hand, it seems he and his staff had little regard for accuracy or the intellectual curiosity to determine the true facts. On the other hand, it does seem that the sole allegation (at least, so far) made against Keillor was relatively minor, especially if we give his account any credence. But at age 75, he seems to be at peace with the arc of his career, at least so it appears from the statement he released.