You've no doubt heard that saying "Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans."
John Lennon used that line in his 1980 song "Beautiful Boy," although it was kicking around for a full two decades before that.
The life of our next guest could serve to illustrate the wisdom of that line. He indeed had "other plans."
As a romantic 20-year-old, he thought about dying young and becoming immortal like Buddy Holly or James Dean or Janis Joplin, with people leaving bouquets at his grave and mourning the loss of his "enormous complicated talent."
But life happened. He didn't die tragically young. And his talent was not lost to the world.
Instead, Garrison Keillor is 71 and about to mark the 40th anniversary of A Prairie Home Companion, a program that reaches some four million listeners on more than 600 public radio stations coast to coast, including, of course, Michigan Radio.
To celebrate this milestone, Garrison Keillor has a new book, The Keillor Reader, a collection of his stories, his essays, poems and so much more. All in one volume.
Garrison Keillor joined us today.
Listen to the full interview above.
