A Prairie Home Companion host Garrison Keillor mentioned the “R” word — retirement — this week on Charlie Rose. “I think retirement is a beautiful thing and I think about it a lot,” Keillor said. “But then I think how lucky I am to have this show and it’s two hours every Saturday. Nobody tells me what I have to do and I work with these wonderful people. and I have all of these listeners and when I walk down the street and people recognize me, they smile, and that’s really all you need in a world.”
It’s a topic Keillor has discussed in the past. Several times.
In March 2011, Keillor even mentioned an approximate date: Spring 2013. But Minnesota Public Radio chief Bill Kling, who brought Prairie Home into national distribution, downplayed the announcement as a publicity stunt, intended to tease Keillor’s fans and bring new contributors into the Prairie Home Companion talent mix. “He throws things out there to see what the reaction would be,” Kling told Current back then.
And, sure enough, later that year, Keillor un-announced his retirement plans.