Letter: Garrison Keillor column intended to make you think

A community letter complained about the change in Garrison Keillor from the avuncular character he played as part of 'A Prairie Home Companion” to the angry writer in the Insight section of The Gazette ('Keillor's columns have changed,” Jan. 23).

This letter illustrates the problem we seem to have telling entertainment from real life. 'A Prairie Home Companion” was entertainment. Who knows what Garrison Keillor was thinking while broadcasting from St. Paul. Maybe he was angry then, too. Maybe we should blame reality TV for blurring the lines, or making us unable to discriminate between someone who's trying to keep us tuned into his radio program versus someone who's trying to convey personal concern about a real world situation.

The editorial section is not intended to entertain; it is intended to make us think. If it entertains in the meantime, so be it. But if you're only reading Insight to be entertained, you're missing the point. There are a great many things these days that are not entertaining, but there are a great many things we should be seriously thinking about. Time to get busy doing so.

Connie Kennedy

Cedar Rapids