For Garrison Keillor, it’s all about communion these days.
His voice is something of a balm, its familiar timbre and pacing warm and steady as he ponders how simple conversations between neighbors may be the strongest tool with which to repair major political clefts as the nation approaches a contentious presidential election.
The storyteller, humorist and former longtime host of the Minnesota Public Radio show, “A Prairie Home Companion,’’ Keillor is in the Carolinas this week touring his one-man show “Garrison Keillor Tonight.’’
He will take the stage at the historic Carolina Theatre in downtown Greensboro on Thursday at 8 p.m.
“I think we do what we need to do, and we need to talk to one another,’’ said Keillor, who spent Palm Sunday at a Wilmington Baptist church seeking out chats with Republicans about taxes and such. “The value is in family talking to family and friends talking to friends and standing up for what you think. I’m here in Greenville, S.C., and my older sister, who is all in favor of Donald Trump, is here.’’
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Keillor, 81, explained he is compelled to connect with his loved one despite their vast political differences.
“She is a devout Baptist, and I believe there is nothing Baptist about Trump whatsoever,’’ said Keillor, wryly.
Social media has contributed to the problem of Americans feeling alienated from one another, Keillor posited.
“There is a deep, terrible division. I just don’t think about it. I don’t give up hope. I don’t see any reason for fear. Social media makes the world smaller ... and that is so terribly, terribly unfortunate.’’
From radio to road show
On Thursday night, though, Keillor plans to unify his audience through song, he said during a Tuesday afternoon telephone interview from Greenville, where he was preparing for an evening show. “In my show, I don’t talk politics,’’ he said.
Keillor will invite guests to share his performance, singing favorites from the Great American Songbook and hymns along with him, a capella.
“I’ll talk about the beauty of winter, the beauty of old age and do some poetry,’’ Keillor said of the Greensboro show. “What I really love is getting the audience to sing with me. We’ll start with ‘My Country, ‘Tis of Thee.’
“Because it is the South, I can sing, ‘O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder’ ... and the audience will all come right in,’’ Keillor said of the cue verse for the hymn, “How Great Thou Art.”
“In the South, they know these songs. It’s amazing to stand on stage and hear that. And they are overwhelmed by the beauty of it, and I am overwhelmed. It’s very moving for me.’’
The act of performing together is a kind of emotional dovetailing that reminds us we are not so different from one another, Keillor said.
“The message is there: We are one people and we know the same songs. My generation may be the last generation to know the songs.’’
Keillor has toured the stage version of his show since 2017. That year, his show’s home, Minnesota Public Radio, severed its relationship with Keillor after a freelance writer for “A Prairie Home Companion” accused him of inappropriate behavior.
While the shows no longer air on Minnesota Public Radio, Keillor and the broadcaster reached a settlement that allowed the archives of “A Prairie Home Companion,’’ which ran from 1974 to 2016, to be made available to the public.
Hold the phone
“I love the telephone, just as my mother did,’’ said Keillor when asked how he feels about a world riddled with cellphones.
“My mother, for the sake of my father, moved south to Florida and she had to stay in touch with her sister by phone,’’ he said. “I left Minnesota and moved to New York and there are 10 or 12 people I absolutely have to stay in touch with. But I think (the cellphone is) a problem for children, and I think that professionals are aware of this. And in schools where they forbid cellphones, kids do show a readiness to focus on learning. And this temptation is taken away. Parents, teachers, aunts and uncles have to be strict about this.’’
The peripatetic lifestyle of New York City suits the Minnesota native well, he said, noting that walks and subway rides place you in the important company of a diverse group of fellow human beings.
“I have great hope for humanity,’’ he said with a light chuckle. “Americans still have a great sense of humor.’’
In the pink
Keillor, who underwent a heart operation a few years back, said he is doing well and walking often for exercise.
His cardiologist put him through a recent stress test and his new mitral valve, sourced from a pig, is functioning well, he said.
Of the pig’s contribution to his longevity, Keillor said: “I am grateful to him or to her.’’
He keeps the ticker busy.
“You have to keep moving and you have to keep busy,’’ Keillor said of aging. “It’s a good idea to get up and get dressed and go outside and walk until you start to feel a little bit out of breath, then turn around and walk back ... to be active as you can.’’
His life as a writer has helped enrich his long life, Keillor said.
“You need to have a purpose, and a writer is very lucky in that you can keep working. I write two columns a week ... I’m working on a novel and finished a book,’’ Keillor explained. “And my shows are more fun now than back when I was on the radio when I was in my 50s and 60s. I worked too hard back then and was away from family too often.’’
And while writing is important to Keillor, he doesn’t force creativity.
“I’ve been a deadline writer all of my life. I started out on a newspaper in St. Paul. I’m a writer who moves straight forward, and I know my strengths. Early morning is by far my best time, and after about 2 p.m. I can edit, but I cannot do much writing.”
If words don’t come, Keillor said “don’t sit and beat your head against the wall. You need to get up and get away. You don’t want to focus so hard on something that’s not coming that you exhaust yourself.’’
Known for his slightly crumpled sartorial prowess, Keillor said he may wear seersucker on Easter Sunday at his Episcopal church in New York City.
“I should dress up and wear my blue seersucker suit with a red tie.’’
No matter his ensemble or locale, Keillor will try to connect, no doubt.
While at the Wilmington Baptist church last weekend, Keillor said he tried his best.
“I heard a group of men talking and I walked over to them and I said, ‘You sound like Republicans to me.’ We’d just been through mass and been absolved of our inequities. Then I said, ‘It’s a pleasure to hear you complaining about the government. You remind me of my uncles.’’’