10 Questions for Garrison Keillor

Its role is to talk to people who are stuck in traffic. And conservatives become incensed enough listening to public radio that it keeps them awake so they don't drive into a fire hydrant. That's what we do: we save the lives of thousands of right-wingers every year. And they never thank us for it.

Will you ever run out of Lake Wobegon stories?

Tom Hale, NEW YORK CITY

No. As long as you can still hear and see, you'll never run out of stories. I ran into an ancient cousin of mine a week ago, and she told me something I'd never heard before. My grandfather Keillor died before I was born, and she told me that every night, he lifted my grandmother into his arms--he's a farmer, a big woodworking guy--and carried her upstairs into bed. He had a big mustache and beautiful singing voice. From that, you could come up with a whole year's worth of stories almost.

VIDEO AT TIME.COM

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