Whittier College News Release

Whittier College
Office of Public Relations
13406 Philadelphia St.
P.O. Box 634
Whittier, CA 90608-0634

April 19, 2004
Reference: 03/04: 52
Contact: Bedford McIntosh at (562) 907-4213

Garrison Keillor to Speak at Whittier College

          Author, singer and raconteur Garrison Keillor will be the featured speaker at a farewell dinner and program for Whittier College President Katherine Haley Will on Wednesday, May 19. Will, who has been at Whittier since 1999, is leaving to become president of Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania.

           The benefit event is being sponsored by the College Board of Trustees and the John Greenleaf Whittier Society, Whittier’s leadership donor society, and includes an outdoor reception and dinner, followed by Keillor’s presentation in the Ruth B. Shannon Center for the Performing Arts.

          Keillor is best known for his work on public radio’s A Prairie Home Companion, in which he chronicles life in the fictional town of Lake Wobegon. He hosted the first broadcast of ‘Companion’ in St. Paul, Minn., on July 6, 1974. The show ended in 1987, resumed in 1989 in New York as The American Radio Company, returned to Minnesota, and in 1993 resumed the name A Prairie Home Companion, which is heard by 2.6 million people on more than 450 public radio stations.

          Keillor also hosts a daily five-minute radio program, The Writer’s Almanac. He is a frequent contributor to Time magazine and writes a biweekly column of advice to the lovelorn for the online magazine Salon. He is the author of 12 books, including Lake Wobegon Days, The Book of Guys, Love Me, and the forthcoming HomeGrown Democrat.
His work has earned him a Grammy Award for his recording of Lake Wobegon Days, two ACE Awards for work on cable television, and a George Foster Peabody Award. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he was presented with the National Humanities Medal by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Keillor was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1994.

          Seating is limited, with priority given to John Greenleaf Whittier Society members and those who purchase tables. Tables for 10 are available at $5,000 (President’s Circle) and $2,500 (Founder’s Circle). Any remaining individual tickets will be $250 each. A portion of each ticket is tax deductible, and each ticket-level comes with special benefits. For more information, call Terrie Valenzuela at (562) 907-4219.

          Located 18 miles east of Los Angeles, Whittier College is an independent, four-year college offering traditional liberal arts majors and strong pre-professional programs taught in the context of the liberal arts. Whittier Law School, which is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools, is located on a separate campus in Costa Mesa.