National radio program named after a cemetery

The sage of Minnesota and America's modern-day Mark Twain named his nationally-famous radio program, A Prairie Home Companion, after the Prairie Home Cemetery on 8th Street in Moorhead, Minnesota, near the Concordia College Campus. This is an old Norwegian graveyard, according to A Prairie Home Companion Commonplace Book: 25 Years on the Air with Garrison Keillor (Edited by Marcia Pankake, published by the Highbridge Company, 1000 Westgate Drive, St. Paul, MN 55114).

The "Old Scout," as Keillor sometimes refers to himself, was in town to speak at Moorhead State University (now Minnesota State University, Moorhead). This was in 1971, prior to his radio program's debut in 1974. Keillor apparently noticed the sign as some friends were taking him from an evening party in Moorhead to the train station in Fargo, so he could catch the 2:00 A.M. "Empire Builder" on the old Great Northern Railway for his trip back to Minneapolis.

The Commonplace Book is a real treasure trove of stories and legends about the program and includes biographies of most of the cast members who were with him during the program's first 25 years. Many of the "originals" are still performing with him on the weekly program, now in its 37th year. Keillor has announced he will be retiring in "a couple of years," probably in 2013, which will, of couse, mark the program's 40th year on the air. I've been a loyal listener since its first year on Minnesota Public Radio and will be saddened to hear him do his final show. It still is a weekly treat for me, as it has been for much of my adult life. Click here to go to the program's website.  Click on photo for larger image