A Day in the Life of the Wife of a Writer
Sep. 19th, 2007 09:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
puppetmaker(If you ever had wondered how I end up on some of my adventures here is a prime example of what happens to start me on them.)
Scene 1
A living room on Long Island. On one couch sits KATHLEEN working on her computer. On the other couch sits CAROLINE who has managed to get as many of her stuffed animals onto the couch as is possible in this dimension.
Enter PETER from his lair/office
PETER: You doing anything next Tuesday.
KATHLEEN (thinks for a minute or two before responding): No.
PETER: Can you go into the city and give Garrison Keillor a copy of Tigerheart?
KATHLEEN looks at Peter rather puzzled since she knows that Mr. Keillor no longer lives in Manhattan
PETER: I have rehearsal for Man of La Mancha and my editor is unable to attend the signing.
A light bulb goes off over KATHLEEN's head
KATHLEEN: Where is he signing?
PETER: Barnes and Noble Union Square at 7pm next Tuesday.
KATHLEEN: Sure. Why not?
END Scene
(OK so my formatting stinks for playwriting today but I don't have my script software up and running this morning)
Anyway that is how I found myself seated in the audience for Mr. Keillor's reading, Q&A, and signing. I got there about 5:30 for a 7:00 reading which was smart on my part since by seven it was SRO. I sat in the second row on the end and read a book I had been reading on the train.
(Sidenote:If you ever go to a reading/signing at that Barnes and Noble and you want to get your book signed early in the shooting match, sit towards the front of the reading. They go by rows starting with the first row and working back to those standing. It works well for them and everyone knows where they stand for an autograph)
Mr. Keillor was early and ran up on stage and started talking. If you ever get a chance to hear him talk, I highly recommend it. He was suppose to read from his book which eventually he did but his verbal journey to the actual reading was as much if not more fun than the passage he read. He had the audience in stitches. He talked about turning 65 and the issues that turning 65 brings up. He encouraged everyone not to retire but remain relevant so they can justify their healthcare expenditures to the rest of the country. He did one of those lovely rambles he does that starts at point A and visits points E, K, M, and I before going onto point B.
The Q&A was a little on the weird side. Not from him as much as the people asking the questions. Someone asked him if he had to change his stories for regional differences. He said not really since there are not really that many difference in the US.
"The further away from home, the easier it is to tell stories; the closer to home you tell these stories the more likely you are to be corrected"-Garrison Keillor at the Union Square Barnes and Noble.
Some of the questions made me want to take a rolled up newspaper and hit those people lightly on the nose and say, "Bad audience member. No questions for you." Especially the few knuckleheads that were trying to get a rise out of him, which didn't happen.
The signing went smoothly for me. I was able to get the manuscript to him with a little bit of an explanation of what it was and where it was from. We had a very short discussion about theater and parents. Over all I walked away glad that I have listened to A Prairie Home Companion as long as I had and my impression of the man behind the mike who creates a lot of the magic was better than when I came into the bookstore.
I am grateful that I went on this errand.
Scene 1
A living room on Long Island. On one couch sits KATHLEEN working on her computer. On the other couch sits CAROLINE who has managed to get as many of her stuffed animals onto the couch as is possible in this dimension.
Enter PETER from his lair/office
PETER: You doing anything next Tuesday.
KATHLEEN (thinks for a minute or two before responding): No.
PETER: Can you go into the city and give Garrison Keillor a copy of Tigerheart?
KATHLEEN looks at Peter rather puzzled since she knows that Mr. Keillor no longer lives in Manhattan
PETER: I have rehearsal for Man of La Mancha and my editor is unable to attend the signing.
A light bulb goes off over KATHLEEN's head
KATHLEEN: Where is he signing?
PETER: Barnes and Noble Union Square at 7pm next Tuesday.
KATHLEEN: Sure. Why not?
END Scene
(OK so my formatting stinks for playwriting today but I don't have my script software up and running this morning)
Anyway that is how I found myself seated in the audience for Mr. Keillor's reading, Q&A, and signing. I got there about 5:30 for a 7:00 reading which was smart on my part since by seven it was SRO. I sat in the second row on the end and read a book I had been reading on the train.
(Sidenote:If you ever go to a reading/signing at that Barnes and Noble and you want to get your book signed early in the shooting match, sit towards the front of the reading. They go by rows starting with the first row and working back to those standing. It works well for them and everyone knows where they stand for an autograph)
Mr. Keillor was early and ran up on stage and started talking. If you ever get a chance to hear him talk, I highly recommend it. He was suppose to read from his book which eventually he did but his verbal journey to the actual reading was as much if not more fun than the passage he read. He had the audience in stitches. He talked about turning 65 and the issues that turning 65 brings up. He encouraged everyone not to retire but remain relevant so they can justify their healthcare expenditures to the rest of the country. He did one of those lovely rambles he does that starts at point A and visits points E, K, M, and I before going onto point B.
The Q&A was a little on the weird side. Not from him as much as the people asking the questions. Someone asked him if he had to change his stories for regional differences. He said not really since there are not really that many difference in the US.
"The further away from home, the easier it is to tell stories; the closer to home you tell these stories the more likely you are to be corrected"-Garrison Keillor at the Union Square Barnes and Noble.
Some of the questions made me want to take a rolled up newspaper and hit those people lightly on the nose and say, "Bad audience member. No questions for you." Especially the few knuckleheads that were trying to get a rise out of him, which didn't happen.
The signing went smoothly for me. I was able to get the manuscript to him with a little bit of an explanation of what it was and where it was from. We had a very short discussion about theater and parents. Over all I walked away glad that I have listened to A Prairie Home Companion as long as I had and my impression of the man behind the mike who creates a lot of the magic was better than when I came into the bookstore.
I am grateful that I went on this errand.
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no subject
Date: 2007-09-19 01:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-19 01:23 pm (UTC)I so want to go.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-19 01:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-19 01:36 pm (UTC)That's cool. My sister loves Garrison Keillor.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-19 02:45 pm (UTC)And Garrison Keillor has the absolutely best voice in radio. My 13 yo son doesn't particularly care of PHC but will stop and listen closely to a piece where Garrison is the primary actor.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-19 05:00 pm (UTC)I'm glad to read that you're feeling better these days.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-19 06:09 pm (UTC)I got to be in the audience once for a PHC broadcast. Seeing it live was just...I can't describe it.
But I will never forget it.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-20 12:40 am (UTC):-)