A Night With Garrison Keillor
Lucky me, I had the chance to see Garrison Keillor last night at the wonderful Nightingale Concert Hall on the campus of UNR. Nightingale is great – never a bad seat in the house and it’s located at the UNR Fine Arts Building.
I got there early (on purpose) because I just had to see (again) the Patty Wickman exhibit at the Sheppard Gallery, just down the hall from Nightingale. Wickman’s work is so compelling; her exploration of the social implications of complex rituals and rites of passage is at once thematically complex and allegorically beautiful. Sheppard Gallery is always a breath of fresh air for me.
So, back to Garrison, the consummate story-teller and humorist. I was sitting in the front row, right under his red socks and red tennis shoes (with matching red bow tie, of course). He sang; we sang; he told us great stories that went on forever, but left you wanting to hear more. Garrison read one of my favorite Mary Oliver poems from memory – or perhaps more accurately, from heart. That voice, that mellifluous voice, previously only heard by my ears on The Writer’s Almanac, now, right in front of me, reciting Oliver. Lucky me.
Here’s one of my favorite Keillor quotes:
“Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have got it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known.”
Finally, with apologies to Garrison…
So that’s the news from Reno-Tahoe, America’s Adventure Place…
• Where all the women are strong
• All the men are beautiful
• And all the children are way-way-above-average
Here are some pictures I took at the event:
