atul@ut-ngp.UTEXAS (Atul Arya) (07/18/85)
Austin American-Statesman, July 18, 1985
" Austin fans of A Praire Home Companion, the Saturday evening
radio variety show hosted by Garrison Keillor, have heard the last
installment of the news from Lake Wobegon. Because of a broadcast
rights dispute with the show's producers and distributors, the
show was cancelled this week on Austin public radio station KUT-FM."
I wish they had told us in advance. I could have opened a
vintage wine bottle, darkened the kitchen and drowned the sorrows
listening to the news form Lake Wobegon for the last time. But that
did not happen and now we are orphans in this big bad world trying
to get our lives together without our beloved PHC.
So along with Kalamazoo,Mich. we in Austin are the only two
stations who decided to drop the show. Four stations got the waiver
from the condition to broadcast the show no later than 6 P.M. local
time. I guess the rest of the stations decided to meet the demands.
Of course we do not count. We are shy people. Why should a
famous person like Mr. K. should care about us. His show is BIG.
I mean really BIG. His new book is coming out soon. He is the talk of
the airwaves. So he won't even notice this minor loss. But not too
long ago we were all small people and valued a lot of things much
more than money. But I guess those bachelor farmers at Lake Wobegon
have finally realized that "the business of America is business."
And what about us. We were always faithful. We gave up our social
life so that we could sit in our kitchens, gulp down some of those
Biscuits with a glass of milk and get the latest news of our beloved
town. We tried our best to meet the demands. When the show decided to
charge a fee, we raised the sum during a single show here in this
town. But finally it was beyond our means. We prize our independence
as much as the folks in Lake Wobegon and do not like others to tell
us what we should be doing. So we are now paying for our independence.
Oh, I wish the price was not this high.
Yes I will miss you all. The cat songs, Bob's bank, Ralph's pretty
good grocery, Raw Bits cereal, Powdermilk Biscuits and the rest of them.
To all of you out there who are fortunate and still have the show,
my farewell. I will keep listening to the net. Maybe you will tell us
some of the news from the small town in the praire. But listen carefully
because one day this corporation (MPR & APHC) can make demands which
you may not be able to meet. Goodbye,
Atul Arya
Dept. of Petroleum Engg.
University of Texas at Austin
P.S. : Just saw today's Bloom County(7/18). How true and how timely!wombat@ccvaxa.UUCP (07/24/85)
*anguished yell* Probably a lot of you aren't into science fiction and World Science Fiction Conventions, but one of the best parties I attended at LACon last Labor Day was the "Lake Wobegon in 1991" bid party, where Powdermilk Biscuits were served, where we started to compile a list of science fiction films shy people might like to see for the film program, where others started thinking about good discussion panels and other programming we could have, where people talked about their cats, and where we all sat around and listened to The News with displaced Wobegonites from all around the country. I was looking forward to another such evening this Labor Day at the North American SF Con (Worldcon, alas, will be in Melbourne, Australia), "The First Occasional Lone Star Convention and Chili Cook-Off" in, of all places, Austin. If there's anyone out there who remembers the BisCon bid party and would like to continue to work toward that bid, and now to sympathsize with the residents of Austin, let me know. Someone will have to remember to bring a recording of old news. "When you are about to die, a wombat is better than no company at all." Roger Zelazny, *Doorways in the Sand* Wombat ihnp4!uiucdcs!ccvaxa!wombat