Go to Garrison Keillor's Cool Friends interview

On a trip away from Lake Wobegon, Garrison Keillor took time to talk to us at tompeters.com. He and Erik had a great conversation about his latest book, A Christmas Blizzard, and many other topics, including a note from Julie Christie. We know you'll enjoy reading his Cool Friends interview.

View our Archives for past interviews.

Blog Roll

The 26th Story
800-CEO-Read
Ageless Marketing
andHow To Reach Women
Katya Andresen
Tom Asacker
Asiabizblog
Jordan Ayan
Martha Barletta
Dave Barry
Ed Batista
Becker-Posner
The Big Picture
The Bing Blog
Blog Critics
John Bogle
BoingBoing
Boomer411
Brand Autopsy
Chris Brogan
BusinessPundit
BW Brand New Day
BW Management IQ
BW The Tech Beat
Cali and Jody
Ben Casnocha
Change This
Church of the Customer
Clear Path International
Conversation Agent
Cooking for Engineers
Copy Blogger
Core77
Coudal Partners
Mark Cuban
Aubrey Daniels
Design Gazette, jkr.co.uk
design*sponge
Jory Des Jardins
Betsy Devine
Don the Idea Guy
Dooce
Down the Avenue
Daniel W. Drezner
Esther Dyson
eHub
Frank Eliason
Judith Ellis
English Cut
Enterprise Media
Evhead
Steve Farber
Fast Company
Fast Lane
Brad Feld
The Fischbowl
Richard Florida
Ze Frank
Freakonomics
Free Business Tips
Gil Friend
gapingvoid
Dan Gillmor
Global Neighborhoods
Seth Godin
Good Experience
Gothamist
Great Leadership
Alan Gregerman
Health Affairs
Health Beat
The Health Care Blog
Dick Heller
Hyperthinker
IDEO Eyes Open
iinnovate
Influx Insights
Innovate on Purpose
In Pursuit of Elegance
Instapundit
The Intuitive Life
Isenblog
Joi Ito
Rich Karlgaard/Forbes
Josh Kaufman
Guy Kawasaki
Leading Blog
Learned on Women
Jonah Lehrer
Martin Lindstrom
Chris Locke
The Long Tail
Made to Stick
John Maeda
Management by Baseball
MarketingProfs:DailyFix
Marketing to Boomer Women
Mavericks at Work
The Messaging Times
Metacool
Nick Morgan
Name Wire
Mike Neiss
Netwoman
No Bullet Points
The Nudge Blog
Nuts about Southwest
John O'Leary
Persistence Unlimited
Personal Branding
Dan Pink
Pink Slip
Play the Game of Life
Pollster
John Porcaro
Portfolio Careers
Virginia Postrel
Power Line
Presentation Zen
PSFK
Pyromarketing
Mitch Ratcliffe
Fred Reichheld
ResearchBuzz
Retailer Blog
Jennifer Rice
Dan Roam
Kevin Roberts
Scott Rosenberg
Rules of Thumb
Samizdata
Ian Sanders
Tim Sanders
Todd Sattersten
Mary Schmidt
Robert Scoble
Scripting News
Doc Searls
Andy Sernovitz
Rajesh Setty
Stephen Shapiro
Signal vs. Noise
Slashdot
Simplicity
Smart Mobs
Sorted Books
Springwise
Halley Suitt
Andrew Sullivan
Sustainable Work
Bob Sutton
The Talent Code
TechCrunch
The Technium
Third Age
Trend Hunter
Trend Watching
Trump University
Penelope Trunk
Trusted Advisor
Twist Image
Web Worker Daily
David Weinberger
What's Next
Susan Willett Bird
The Wisdom of Improv
WonderBranding
Wooster Collective
Steve Yastrow
Your White Room

Cool Friends Archive (Sorted in alphabetical order)

Angus, Jeff
Author of Management by Baseball: The Official Rules for Winning Management in Any Field
Posted on 04/25/2006

Applegate, Jane
Entrepreneur and author of 201 Great Ideas for Your Small Business
Posted on 03/22/2000

Ariely, Dan
Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University and author of Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions
Posted on 07/11/2008

Arussy, Lior
Author of Passionate and Profitable: Why Customer Strategies Fail and Ten Steps To Do Them Right
Posted on 08/17/2005

Ayan, Jordan
Author of Aha!—10 Ways to Free Your Creative Spirit and Find Your Great Ideas
Posted on 03/30/2001

Balter, Dave
Founder of BzzAgent and coauthor of Grapevine: The New Art of Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Posted on 12/14/2005

Barletta, Martha
Author of Marketing to Women: How to Understand, Reach and Increase Your Share of the World's Largest Market Segment
Posted on 08/12/2004

Barletta, Marti (No. 2)
Founder/CEO of The TrendSight Group and author of PrimeTime Women™: How to Win the Hearts, Minds, and Business of Boomer Big Spenders
Posted on 09/13/2007

Bayley, Stephen
Coauthor of Life's a Pitch ... How to Be Businesslike with Your Emotional Life and Emotional with Your Business Life
Posted on 05/23/2007

Bayley, Stephen (No. 2)
Well-known authority on design and coauthor with Terence Conran of Design: Intelligence Made Visible
Posted on 12/31/2007

Beckström, Rod
Co-founder of Global Peace Networks and coauthor of The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations
Posted on 02/22/2007

Bedbury, Scott
Author of A New Brand World: 8 Principles for Achieving Brand Leadership in the 21st Century
Posted on 09/30/2002

Birchard, Bill
Author of Nature's Keepers: The Remarkable Story of How the Nature Conservancy Became the Largest Environmental Organization in the World
Posted on 03/28/2005

Bridges, William
Author of Creating You & Co: Learn to Think Like the CEO of Your Own Career
Posted on 09/15/2000

Brodsky, Norm
Coauthor of The Knack: How Street-Smart Entrepreneurs Learn to Handle Whatever Comes Up
Posted on 10/02/2008

Brogan, Chris
Coauthor, with Julien Smith, of Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust
Posted on 03/26/2009

Brown, Mary
Coauthor with Carol Orsborn of BOOM: Marketing to the Ultimate Power Consumer—the Baby Boomer Woman
Posted on 01/29/2007

Burlingham, Bo
Author of Small Giants: Companies That Choose to be Great Instead of Big
Posted on 01/25/2006

Carbone, Lou
Lou Carbone, author of Clued In: How To Keep Customers Coming Back Again and Again
Posted on 11/08/2004

Castronova, Edward
Author of Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games
Posted on 12/20/2005

Clark, Maxine
Founder, Chief Executive Bear, and Chairman of Build-A-Bear Workshop® and author of The Bear Necessities of Business: Building a Company with Heart
Posted on 11/15/2006

Colson, Kathleen
Executive director of the BOMA Fund, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that works to develop new opportunities for education, capacity-building, and entrepreneurial innovation in northern Kenya
Posted on 08/21/2009

Cool Friends Intro
When we began the Cool Friends section of tompeters.com waaaay back in 1999, the idea was to highlight some of the business (primarily) thinkers who influenced Tom, and whom he often quoted in his slide presentations. As Tom wrote in...
Posted on 01/14/1990

Coram, Robert
Author of Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War
Posted on 02/08/2006

Covert, Jack and Todd Sattersten
Coauthors of The 100 Best Business Books of All Time: What They Say, Why They Matter, and How They Can Help You
Posted on 02/11/2009

Coyle, Dan
Author of The Talent Code: Greatness Isn't Born. It's Grown. Here's How.
Posted on 04/29/2009

Cramer, Kathryn
Coauthor of Change the Way You See Everything Through Asset-Based Thinking
Posted on 03/28/2006

Crossland, Ron
Coauthor of The Leadership Experience: From Individual Success to Organization Significance
Posted on 02/20/2008

Culbert, Sam
Coauthor of Don't Kill the Bosses! Escaping the Hierarchy Trap
Posted on 10/25/2001

Daniels, Aubrey
Chairman of Aubrey Daniels International and coauthor of Measure of a Leader: An Actionable Formula for Legendary Leadership
Posted on 02/22/2006

Davis, Stan
Author of Future Wealth
Posted on 06/18/2001

Donlan, Vicki
Founder of Women's Business Boston and author of Her Turn: Why It's Time for Women to Lead in America
Posted on 11/23/2007

Farber, Steve
Author of The Radical Leap: A Personal Lesson in Extreme Leadership
Posted on 06/01/2004

Farmiloe, Brett and Zach Hubbell
Pursue the Passion: Brett Farmiloe and Zach Hubbell are on a roadtrip to find people passionate about their work along with Jay Whiting and Noah Pollack
Posted on 10/26/2007

Farson, Richard
Coauthor of Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins: The Paradox of Innovation
Posted on 02/10/2003

Finder, Joseph
Author of Killer Instinct, Company Man, Paranoia, and more
Posted on 06/21/2006

Fisher, Helen
Author of The First Sex
Posted on 07/03/2001

Florida, Richard
Author of The Rise of the Creative Class and The Flight of the Creative Class: The New Global Competition for Talent
Posted on 05/02/2005

Frank, Ze
Artist, consultant, teacher, humorist, and maker of "stuff"
Posted on 02/01/2006

Freedman, Dave
Coauthor of A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder—How Crammed Closets, Cluttered Offices, and On-the-Fly Planning Make the World a Better Place
Posted on 05/09/2007

Fried, Jason
Founder and president of 37signals and coauthor of Defensive Design for the Web
Posted on 07/01/2005

Froggatt, Cynthia
Author of Work Naked: Eight Essential Principles for Peak Performance In The Virtual Workplace
Posted on 07/19/2002

Gartner, John
Author of The Hypomanic Edge: The Link Between (a Little) Craziness and (a Lot of) Success in America
Posted on 11/08/2005

Gibson, Rowan and Peter Skarzynski
Coauthors of Innovation to the Core: A Blueprint for Transforming the Way Your Company Innovates
Posted on 03/26/2008

Godin, Seth
Author of Unleashing the Ideavirus
Posted on 11/06/2000

Godin, Seth (No. 2)
Author of Small Is the New Big
Posted on 08/16/2006

Godin, Seth (No. 3)
Marketing guru and author of nine books, the latest of which is The Dip: The Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)
Posted on 06/14/2007

Heath, Dan
Coauthor with his brother, Chip, of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
Posted on 03/02/2007

Helgesen, Sally
Author of The Web of Inclusion: A New Architecture for Building Great Organizations
Posted on 12/18/2000

Helgesen, Sally (No. 2)
Author of Thriving in 24/7: Six Strategies for Taming the New World of Work
Posted on 03/15/2002

Herz, J.C.
Author of Joystick Nation: How Video Games Ate Our Quarters, Won Our Hearts, and Rewired Our Minds
Posted on 12/01/2000

Hessan, Diane
President and CEO of Communispace, one of the fastest growing social networking companies in the U.S.
Posted on 05/29/2009

Hewlett, Sylvia
President of the Center for Work-Life Policy and author of Off-Ramps and On-Ramps: Keeping Talented Women on the Road to Success
Posted on 07/20/2007

Hiam, Michael
Author of Who the Hell Are We Fighting? The Story of Sam Adams and the Vietnam Intelligence Wars
Posted on 02/28/2008

Hill, Dan
Founder of Sensory Logic, Inc., and author of Body of Truth and Emotionomics: Winning Hearts and Minds
Posted on 01/16/2008

Hogshead, Sally
Author of Radical Careering : 100 Truths to Jumpstart Your Job, Your Career, and Your Life
Posted on 10/18/2005

Huba, Jackie and Ben McConnell
Authors of Creating Customer Evangelists and Citizen Marketers: When People Are the Messageand the blog Church of the Customer
Posted on 12/29/2006

Hunt, Tara
Author of The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business
Posted on 09/08/2009

Hurst, Mark
Founder of the user experience consulting firm Creative Good and author of Bit Literacy: Productivity in the Age of Information and E-mail Overload
Posted on 07/10/2007

Jackson, Eric
Author of The PayPal Wars: Battles with eBay, the Media, the Mafia, and the Rest of the Planet
Posted on 12/07/2005

Jacobs, Jane
Author of The Nature of Economies and The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Posted on 02/04/2002

Jensen, Rolf
Rolf Jensen, author of The Dream Society: How the Coming Shift from Information to Imagination Will Transform Your Business
Posted on 09/16/2004

Johnson, Lisa
Coauthor of Don't Think Pink: What Really Makes Women Buy—And How to Increase Your Share of This Crucial Market
Posted on 04/26/2005

Kador, John
Author of Effective Apology: Mending Fences, Building Bridges, and Restoring Trust
Posted on 07/10/2009

Kanter, Rosabeth
Former editor of Harvard Business Review and author of America the Principled: 6 Opportunities for Becoming a Can-Do Nation Once Again
Posted on 02/01/2008

Kaputa, Catherine
Author of U R a Brand! How Smart People Brand Themselves for Business Success
Posted on 05/09/2006

Kawasaki, Guy
Entrepreneur, blogger, and author of Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition
Posted on 11/19/2008

Keillor, Garrison
Host of Public Radio's A Prairie Home Companion and author of many books, most recently A Christmas Blizzard
Posted on 12/11/2009

Kelley, David
Founder and CEO of IDEO, one of America's premier design firms.
Posted on 09/21/2000

Kelley, Tom
General Manager of IDEO, and author of The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America's Leading Design Firm
Posted on 02/02/2001

Kelley, Tom (No. 2)
General Manager of IDEO and coauthor of The Ten Faces of Innovation
Posted on 10/25/2005

Kelly, Eamonn
Author of Powerful Times: Rising to the Challenge of Our Uncertain World
Posted on 11/16/2005

Kelly, Matthew
Founder and president of Floyd Consulting and author of The Dream Manager
Posted on 11/09/2007

Kjerulf, Alex
Chief Happiness Officer and author of Happy Hour is 9 to 5: How to Love Your Job, Love Your Life, and Kick Butt at Work
Posted on 10/11/2007

Krupp, Fred
President of the Environmental Defense Fund and coauthor of Earth: The Sequel—The Race to Reinvent Energy and Stop Global Warming
Posted on 04/11/2008

Kunde, Jesper
Author of Corporate Religion
Posted on 01/29/2000

Kurzweil, Ray
Renowned futurist and author of The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology
Posted on 11/28/2005

Learned, Andrea
Coauthor of Don't Think Pink and author of the blog Learned on Women and e-book 9 on Marketing
Posted on 01/10/2007

Levine, Eliot
Author of One Kid At A Time: Big Lessons From A Small School
Posted on 05/14/2002

Lichtenberg, Ronna
Author of It's Not Business, It's Personal
Posted on 05/03/2001

Lindstrom, Martin
Chairman of Buyology Inc., New York, and BRAND sense Agency, London, and author of Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy
Posted on 12/11/2008

Lipman-Blumen, Jean
Author of The Allure of Toxic Leaders: Why We Follow Destructive Bosses and Corrupt Politicians—and How We Can Survive Them
Posted on 03/14/2005

Littky, Dennis
Co-director of the Big Picture Company and director of The Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center in Providence, R.I.
Posted on 06/17/2005

Locke, Chris
Coauthor of The Cluetrain Manifesto
Posted on 05/25/2000

Maeda, John
Founder of the Simplicity Consortium at the MIT Media Lab and author of The Laws of Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life
Posted on 12/13/2006

Maister, David
Author of Managing the Professional Service Firm
Posted on 10/15/2000

Mann, Howard
A founder of Sideshow Digital and author of Your Business Brickyard: Getting back to the basics to make your business more fun to run
Posted on 09/15/2008

May, Matthew
Author of In Pursuit of Elegance: Why the Best Ideas Have Something Missing
Posted on 05/19/2009

McLagan, Pat
Author of Change Is Everybody's Business and coauthor of The Age of Participation
Posted on 09/15/2001

Meerman Scott, David
Author of World Wide Rave: Creating Triggers that Get Millions of People to Spread Your Ideas and Share Your Stories
Posted on 01/19/2009

Michaels, Ed
Former leader of McKinsey & Company's War for Talent Practice and coauthor of The War for Talent
Posted on 02/16/2001

Micklethwait & Wooldridge
Coauthors of A Future Perfect
Posted on 06/12/2000

Moore, John
Author of the Brand Autopsy blog and Tribal Knowledge: Business Wisdom Brewed from the Grounds of Starbucks Corporate Culture
Posted on 09/13/2006

Moore, Kenny
Coauthor of The CEO and the Monk: One Company's Journey to Profit and Purpose
Posted on 02/16/2004

Morgan, Carol
Coauthor, with Doran J. Levy, Ph.D., of Marketing To The Mind Set Of Boomers And Their Elders: Using Psychographics And More To Identify And Reach Your Best Targets
Posted on 07/08/2003

Morgan, Nick
Communications coach and author of Trust Me: Four Steps to Authenticity and Charisma
Posted on 03/04/2009

Movius, Hal
Author of Built to Win: Creating a World-Class Negotiating Organization
Posted on 10/08/2009

Nissanoff, Daniel
Author of FutureShop: How the New Auction Culture Will Revolutionize the Way We Buy, Sell, and Get the Things We Really Want
Posted on 04/12/2006

Palmer, Stephanie
Author of Good in a Room: How to Sell Yourself (and Your Ideas) and Win Over Any Audience
Posted on 06/13/2008

Pfeffer, Jeffrey
Coauthor, with Bob Sutton, of Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths and Total Nonsense: Profiting from Evidence-Based Management
Posted on 05/23/2006

Pine, Joe and Jim Gilmore
Co-founders of Strategic Horizons LLP and coauthors of Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want
Posted on 12/20/2007

Pink, Dan
Author of Free Agent Nation
Posted on 10/01/2001

Pink, Dan (No. 2)
Author of A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age
Posted on 04/18/2005

Pipher, Mary
Author of Writing to Change the World
Posted on 10/27/2006

Popcorn, Faith
Coauthor of EVEolution
Posted on 06/26/2000

Postrel, Virginia
Author of The Substance of Style
Posted on 02/13/2004

Raeder, Bill
President of National Braille Press, a nonprofit Braille publishing company
Posted on 09/26/2007

Reichheld, Fred
Author of The Ultimate Question: Driving Good Profits and True Growth
Posted on 06/06/2006

Rheingold, Howard
Author of Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution
Posted on 11/24/2003

Ridderstråle, Jonas and Kjell Nordström
Coauthors of Karaoke Capitalism: Management for Mankind
Posted on 04/27/2004

Roam, Dan
Dan Roam is the founder and president of Digital Roam Inc., and the author of The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures
Posted on 03/13/2008

Roberts, Kevin
Author of Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands
Posted on 08/24/2004

Rosener, Judy
Author of America's Competitive Secret: Women Managers
Posted on 09/01/2001

Rubin, Harriet
Author of Soloing: Realizing Your Life's Ambition
Posted on 08/26/2000

Ryan Madson, Patricia
Author of Improv Wisdom: Don't Prepare, Just Show Up
Posted on 02/15/2006

Sanders, Tim
Author of Love is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends
Posted on 02/19/2002

Schrage, Michael
Author of Serious Play
Posted on 01/05/2000

Scoble, Robert
Author of the scobleizer blog and coauthor of Naked Conversations
Posted on 02/28/2006

Setty, Rajesh
Author of Beyond Code: Learn to Distinguish Yourself in 9 Simple Steps
Posted on 09/18/2005

Shapiro, Steve
Author of Goal-Free Living
Posted on 01/04/2006

Silverstein, Michael
Coauthor, with Neil Fiske, of Trading Up: The New American Luxury
Posted on 03/08/2004

Sull, Donald
Author of Made In China: What Western Managers Can Learn From Trailblazing Chinese Entrepreneurs
Posted on 07/17/2005

Sutton, Robert
Author of Weird Ideas That Work: 11 1/2 Practices for Promoting, Managing, and Sustaining Innovation
Posted on 04/08/2002

Tannen, Deborah
Author of You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation
Posted on 04/24/2001

Tapscott, Don
Founder of think tank New Paradigm and coauthor of Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything
Posted on 03/13/2007

Taylor, Bill and Polly LaBarre
Coauthors of Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win
Posted on 10/12/2006

Thaler, Richard
Professor of Economics and Behavioral Science at the Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago, and coauthor of Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness
Posted on 08/26/2008

Tomasko, Bob
Author of Bigger Isn't Always Better: The New Mindset for Real Business Growth
Posted on 09/20/2006

Trunk, Penelope
Author of Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success
Posted on 08/06/2007

Underhill, Paco
Author of Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping
Posted on 05/21/2001

Vienne, Veronique
Author of The Art of Doing Nothing: Simple Ways to Make Time for Yourself
Posted on 11/12/2002

Warner, Fara
Author of The Power of the Purse: How Smart Businesses Are Adapting to the World's Most Important Consumers—Women
Posted on 10/07/2005

Waterman, Robert
Coauthor of In Search of Excellence, and author of The Renewal Factor, Adhocracy, and What America Does Right: Learning from Companies That Put People First
Posted on 11/17/2009

Waters, Robyn
Founder of consulting firm RW Trend and author of The Hummer and the Mini: Navigating the Contradictions of the New Trend Landscape
Posted on 03/23/2007

Weil, Debbie
Author of The Corporate Blogging Book: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know to Get It Right
Posted on 11/03/2008

Weinberger, David
Author of Small Pieces Loosely Joined: A Unified Theory of the Web
Posted on 05/28/2002

Whalin, George
Founder of Retail Management Consultants and author of Retail Superstars: Inside the 25 Best Independent Stores In America
Posted on 06/16/2009

Whiteley, Sharon
Sharon Whiteley, CEO of ThirdAge and coauthor of The Old Girls' Network
Posted on 01/20/2005

Willett Bird, Susan
The founder and Chief Futurist of Wf360
Posted on 03/07/2001

Wolaner, Robin
Founder of Parenting magazine and author of Naked in the Boardroom: A CEO Bares Her Secrets So You Can Transform Your Career
Posted on 07/12/2006

Wolfe, David
Coauthor of Ageless Marketing: Strategies for Reaching the Hearts and Minds of the New Customer Majority
Posted on 02/02/2005

Women Gurus Network
Sally Helgesen, Marti Barletta, and Susan Willett Bird speak about Women Gurus Network, the consortium of female gurus they have founded
Posted on 04/25/2007

Wood, John
Author of Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children
Posted on 10/03/2006

Yastrow, Steve
Author of Brand Harmony: Achieving Dynamic Results by Orchestrating Your Customer's Total Experience
Posted on 04/05/2005

Yastrow, Steve (No. 2)
Founder of Yastrow & Co. and author of We: The Ideal Customer Relationship
Posted on 05/15/2008

Zander, Rosamund and Benjamin Zander
Authors of The Art of Possibility
Posted on 01/22/2001

Categories

Blog Roll

Cool Friends Archive (Sorted in alphabetical order)