Letter: Garrison Keillor columns offer perspective

In a recent community letter, David H. Burke wrote that Garrison Keillor's essays are now 'a waste” of space in The Gazette ('Keillor's columns have changed,” Jan. 23). Burke can't seem to divine the reason for Keillor's new unhappiness - could it be his divorces, his health, all his awards? (Really, Mr. Burke?)

For the millions of us that read Garrison Keillor regularly, the recent change in his attitude is quite clearly stated in each of his latest essays. It is the election of Donald J. Trump as president of the United States.

In essays such as 'Done. Over. He's here. Goodbye” and 'Life after the election,” Keillor is doing what he has always done in his writings and his radio programs - casting a humorous, weary eye on the American landscape and trying to offer the solid ethical perspective of a Midwesterner from Lake Wobegon. These essays are not 'nonsense” from a man who has 'lost his light,” as Burke suggests. They are piercing insights into the America we inhabit.

Terry Pitts

Cedar Rapids