The center, colloquially known as the five or the pivot, is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well. A typical NBA center is between 6'10" (2.08 m) and 7'3" (2.21 m).

In many cases, the center's primary role is to use his or her size to score and defend from a position close to the basket. A center who possesses size along with athleticism and skill constitutes an unparalleled asset for a team. The centers are also generally the players who are chosen to take jump balls.

There has been occasional controversy over what constitutes a "true center". For example, some would say that Tim Duncan, although listed throughout his career as a power forward, is actually a center, because of his size and style of play. Nonetheless, the judgment of whether a given player is a center or power forward is often highly subjective. Because there are currently so few people who meet the ideal size requirements of an NBA center, teams will sometimes find it necessary to play an individual at that position who would be more effective as a power forward.

It should also be noted that centers and power forwards often have low free throw percentages. Because of this, it is not uncommon for the opposing team to purposely foul and therefore send them to the line, especially late in games. This has been a common strategy used against certain centers who have continuously struggled with free throws; examples include Wilt Chamberlain, Shaquille O'Neal, and Dwight Howard. The technique of fouling a poor free throw shooter in order to win back possession in the hope that the player will (as usual) miss his free throws is sometimes known as the Hack-a-Shaq strategy. Nevertheless, there are centers who are particularly accurate from the free throw line, such as retired Lithuanian great Arvydas Sabonis or his currently active countryman Žydrūnas Ilgauskas, the latter of whom is one of the few centers along with Yao Ming in the NBA regularly assigned to shoot free throws after technical fouls.

Centers are among the leaders in blocks and rebounds and are said to "anchor" defenses. It is common for centers to roam the paint, and therefore block a high numbers of shots, especially when their man does not have the ball.

The tallest player to ever be drafted in the NBA was the 7'8" (2.33 m) Yasutaka Okayama from Japan, though he never played in the NBA. The tallest players to ever play in the NBA, at 7'7" (2.31 m) are centers Gheorghe Mureşan and Manute Bol. Standing at 7'2" (2.18 m), Margo Dydek is the tallest player to have ever played in the WNBA.

History of the center position

Emergence of the Center

The center is considered a necessary component for a successful team, especially in professional leagues such as the NBA. Great centers have been the foundation for most of the dynasties in both the NBA and NCAA. The 6’10" (2.08 m) George Mikan pioneered the Center position, shattering the widely-held perception that tall players could not develop the agility and coordination to play basketball well, and ushering in the role of the dominant big man. He led DePaul University to the NIT title, then, after turning professional, won seven National Basketball League, Basketball Association of America and NBA Championships in his ten year career (1946–56), nine of them with the Minneapolis Lakers. Using his height to dominate opposing players, Mikan invented the hook shot and the shot block; as a consequence, the NCAA, and later NBA, adopted the goaltending rule, and, in 1951, the NBA widened the foul lane, a decision known as the 'Mikan rule.'

1960s: The era of Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain

In the 1960s, Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain further transformed basketball by combining height with a greater level of athleticism than previous centers. Following the retirement of George Mikan, the rivalry of the two big men came to dominate the NBA. Between the two of them, Chamberlain and Russell won nine of the eleven MVP awards in the twelve-year period between 1958 and 1969; played against one another in six Eastern Conference Finals and two NBA Finals between 1959 and 1969. Many of the records set by these two players have endured today. Most notably, Chamberlain and Russell hold the top eighteen season averages for rebounds.

Bill Russell led the University of San Francisco to two consecutive NCAA Championships (1955, 56). He joined the Boston Celtics and helped make them one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history, winning eleven championships over his thirteen-year career (1956–69) as well as five MVP awards. Russell revolutionized defensive strategy with his shot-blocking, rebounding and physical man-to-man defense. While he was never the focal point of the Celtics offense, much of the team's scoring came when Russell grabbed defensive rebounds and initiated fast breaks with precision outlet passes, primarily to point guard Bob Cousy. As the NBA's first African-American superstar, Russell struggled throughout his career with the racism he encountered from fans in Boston, particularly after the 1966–67 season, when he became the first African-American in any major sport to be named player-coach.

His principal rival, Wilt Chamberlain, listed at 7'1" (2.15 m), 275 pounds (124 kg), lacked Russell's supporting cast. Chamberlain played college ball for the Kansas Jayhawks, leading them to the 1957 title game against the North Carolina Tar Heels. Although the Jayhawks lost by one point in triple overtime, Chamberlain was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Briefly a member of the Harlem Globetrotters before joining the Philadelphia Warriors of the NBA in 1959, Chamberlain won two Championships, in 1967 with the Philadelphia 76ers and 1972 with the Los Angeles Lakers, although his teams were repeatedly defeated by the Celtics in the Eastern Conference and NBA Finals. He also won seven scoring titles, eleven rebounding titles, and four regular season Most Valuable Player awards, including the distinction, in 1960, of being the first rookie to receive the award. Taller and stronger than any player of his era, he was usually capable of scoring and rebounding at will. Although he was the target of constant double- and triple-teaming, as well as fouling tactics designed to take advantage of his poor free-throw shooting, he set a number of records that have never been broken. Most notably, Chamberlain is the only player in NBA history to average more than 50 points in a season and score 100 points in a single game (both in 1961–62 as a member of the Philadelphia Warriors). He also holds the NBA's all-time records for rebounding average (27.2), rebounds in a single game (55), and career rebounds (23,924).

A lesser-known center of the era was Nate Thurmond, who initially played the forward position opposite Wilt Chamberlain for the San Francisco Warriors but moved to center after Chamberlain was traded to the new Philadelphia franchise. Although he never won a Championship, Thurmond was known as the best screen setter in the league, and his averages of 21.3 and 22.0 rebounds per game in 1966–67 and 1967–68, are exceeded only by Chamberlain and Russell.

Centers in the 1970s and 1980s

In contrast to the Celtics dynasty of the 1960s, the 1970s were a decade of parity in the NBA, with eight different champions and no back-to-back winners. At the college level, the UCLA Bruins, under Coach John Wooden, built the greatest dynasty in NCAA basketball history, winning seven consecutive titles between 1967 and 1973. UCLA had already won two consecutive titles in 1964 and 1965 with teams that pressed and emphasized guard play. After not winning in 1966, Wooden's teams changed their style when Lew Alcindor became eligible. He led UCLA to three championships-in 1967, 68' and 69'-while winning the first Naismith College Player of the Year Award. During his college career, the NCAA enacted a ban on dunking primarily because of Alcindor's dominant use of the shot. His entrance into the NBA with the Milwaukee Bucks in 1969 was timely, as Bill Russell had just retired and Wilt Chamberlain was 33 years old and increasingly plagued by injuries. After leading the Bucks to the 1971 NBA championship, teamed up with legendary Point guard Oscar Robertson, Alcindor, who had converted to Islam, changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. In 1975, Abdul-Jabbar was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, and, after the arrival of Point guard Magic Johnson in 1980, formed part of a new Lakers dynasty that won five NBA titles (1980, 82', 85', 87', 88'). In addition, Abdul-Jabbar won six regular-season MVP awards (1971, '72, '74, '76, '77, '80). At 7'2" (2.18 m), 235 pounds (106 kg), he lacked the strength of Chamberlain in his prime, but had a longer wingspan and ultimately proved more durable, adhering to a strict physical-fitness regime that enabled him to play for twenty years, the longest career in NBA history at the time. Offensively, he was best known for his trademark 'Skyhook' hook-shot, almost impossible to block because of his height and wingspan. His career record of 38,387 points has yet to be broken. Defensively, the 1973–4 season was the first in which the number of blocked shots were kept, and, over the next seven years, Kareem led the league in this statistic or finished second.

Another product of John Wooden's UCLA program, Bill Walton, appeared poised to join the ranks of great centers. He led UCLA to back-to-back NCAA titles in 1972 and 1973, led the Portland Trail Blazers to the NBA championship in 1977, and won the NBA MVP the following year. However, his career was plagued with injuries, most infamously a broken bone in his left foot suffered during his MVP season that he never fully recovered from, and he spent most of the following decade on the bench, although he eventually did win a second NBA title as a backup for the Boston Celtics in 1986, when he received the Sixth Man Award. Willis Reed won two championship with the New York Knicks in 1970 and 1973, teamed with Point guard Walt Frazier; although undersized for the center position at 6'9", he had the strength to play inside, was a highly-skilled jump shooter, and was effective at setting picks, a key element in the Knicks motion-oriented offense. The undersized but scrappy Dave Cowens, drafted at the recommendation of Bill Russell, helped the Boston Celtics win two more NBA titles, in 1974 and 1976.

Leading centers of the late 1970s and early 1980s include Wes Unseld of the Baltimore/Washington Bullets, Artis Gilmore of the ABA Kentucky Colonels, Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs; Moses Malone of the Houston Rockets and Philadelphia 76ers; Mark Eaton of the Utah Jazz and Robert Parish of the Boston Celtics, who was acquired from the Golden State Warriors in 1980 for the top overall pick in the NBA Draft. Unseld led the Bullets to four NBA finals appearances and one championship, in 1978. Using his strength and determination to compensate for his lack of size (6'7", i.e. 2.00 m), he was famous for his rebounding, shotblocking, and bone-jarring picks. Artis Gilmore, often overlooked because of the mediocrity of his teams, established himself as the best low-post scorer in the league. He set the NCAA Division I record for career average in rebounds (25.2) at tiny Jacksonville University, and enjoyed an illustrious ABA career before joining the NBA's Chicago Bulls in 1976, playing there until he was traded to San Antonio in 1982, for whom he played until his retirement in 1987. He remains the NBA's career leader in field goal percentage (minimum 2000 shots made) with a 59.9 percentage. Malone, the first high school player to turn professional, was drafted by the Houston Rockets after several years in the ABA, and won two MVP Awards and led Houston to its first NBA Finals in 1981, before joining the Philadelphia 76ers, where, teamed with Julius Erving and Bobby Jones, he won an NBA Championship in 1983, as well as a third League MVP. Never a dominant defender, his quickness and tenacity made him one of the best rebounders in NBA history, particularly on the offensive end; he led the league in rebounds six times in a seven-year period and still holds the NBA record for offensive rebounds.

In the mid-1980s, the 7'4" (2.23 m) Eaton was the most prolific shot-blocker in the league, and, although never a major offensive contributor, won two NBA Defensive Player of the Year Awards while helping transform the lowly Utah Jazz into a playoff contender. Of all these players, none enjoyed the success of Robert Parish, who, with forwards Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, formed the legendary frontcourt of the Boston Celtics team that won three titles (1981, 1984 and 1986). The Celtics' fierce rivalry with the Lakers dominated the NBA during the decade and helped basketball reach an unprecedented level of popularity. Nicknamed "Chief" after a character in the film ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' because of his stoic demeanor, Parish was known for his trademark arching jump-shot—leading many experts to consider him the best medium-range shooting center of all time—and his ability to finish fast-breaks with his surprising speed. Playing until the age of 43, Parish broke Abdul-Jabbar's record for career games played.

Centers in the 1990s

Coach John Thompson, once a seldom-used backup to Bill Russell with the Celtics, developed the Georgetown Hoyas into a chief pipeline for talent at the Center position, producing a succession of great defensive big men in Patrick Ewing, Dikembe Mutombo and Alonzo Mourning. In 1984, Georgetown, led by Patrick Ewing, defeated the University of Houston, led by Hakeem Olajuwon, to win the NCAA championship. This matchup involved the two premier Centers of their generation.

The Nigerian-born Olajuwon, a former soccer goalkeeper who did not play basketball until age 15, was drafted by the Houston Rockets and paired with power forward Ralph Sampson in what was dubbed the 'Twin Towers' duo. In his second season, 1985–86, the Rockets upset the Lakers in the Western Conference finals. After Michael Jordan's first retirement, Olajuwon established himself as the NBA's most dominant player, leading the Rockets to two consecutive NBA championships in 1994 and 1995. In the 1993–94 season he became the only player in NBA history to win the NBA's Most Valuable Player (MVP), Defensive Player of the Year, and Finals MVP awards in the same season. In both Finals, Olajuwon outplayed two of the league's leading Centers, Patrick Ewing of the New York Knicks and the Orlando Magic's young Shaquille O'Neal. Defensively Olajuwon broke Abdul-Jabbar's career record for blocked shots. Offensively, he was best known for his 'Dream Shake,' a series of fakes and spin moves regarded as the pinnacle of big man footwork.

Ewing, from Jamaica by way of the Boston area, was drafted by the New York Knicks in 1985, with whom he spent fifteen of his seventeen seasons in the NBA. An eleven-time All Star, Ewing was one of the best shooting centers in NBA history, possessing a nearly unstoppable baseline jump-shot, as well as a formidable shot blocker and rebounder. Ewing never won an NBA championship, but his Knicks represented the most formidable opponents of the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls dynasty in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Ewing's successor as the starting center at Georgetown, Dikembe Mutombo, who played most of his NBA career with the Denver Nuggets and Atlanta Hawks, was less adept offensively, but proved an even more dominant defender. Mutombo, who had not played basketball before arriving in the U.S. from his native Zaire on a USAID scholarship, was among the greatest shot blockers in NBA history, leading the NBA in blocked-shots five consecutive years, in the course of a career in which he ranked second in the history of the league in blocked shots, behind only Hakeem Olajuwon. He was also the recipient of four NBA Defensive Player of the Year Awards, tied for the record with Ben Wallace.

The other dominant center of the early 1990s was David Robinson. Playing college ball at the United States Naval Academy, his entry into the NBA was delayed by his military service, but he unanimously won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1990 and, in 1995, was voted the MVP. Offensively, Robinson excelled in fast-breaks, running the floor like no 7-footer (2.13 m and above) before or since, while also possessing an effective left-hand jumper. Defensively, his speed and agility helped him hold the distinction of being the only player in NBA history to rank among the top five in rebounds, blocks and steals in a single season.

Several European centers made an impact in the NBA in the 1990s, most notably Lithuanian Arvydas Sabonis of the Portland Trail Blazers, Serbian Vlade Divac of the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings and Dutchman Rik Smits. In keeping with its more perimeter-oriented style of play, European basketball strategy utilized centers as playmakers more than in the NBA, and Divac and Sabonis in particular distinguished themselves as the best passing centers in the league. The 7'3" (2.20 m) Sabonis, who led the Soviet Union to an upset victory over the U.S. en route to a gold medal at the 1988 Olympics, was considered by many experts to have been among the best centers in the world in the late 1980s, but did not enter the NBA until he was well past his prime and limited by injuries. He nonetheless played seven solid seasons in Portland before returning to his homeland to finish his career. In his next-to-last season, during which he turned 39, he earned MVP honors in both of the initial two phases of the 2003–04 Euroleague with the club of his youth, Žalgiris.

The 1992 NBA Draft marked the entrance into the league of Shaquille O'Neal, who was drafted by the Orlando Magic. Immediately drawing comparisons to Wilt Chamberlain, the 7'1" (2.15 m), 325-pound (147 kg) O'Neal was billed as potentially the most physically dominating player ever and he quickly lived up to the hype. By his third season, he led the league in scoring and led the Magic to the NBA Finals, where they were swept by the Houston Rockets, with O'Neal out-played by the more experienced Olajuwon. After the 1995–96 season, he signed with the rebuilding Los Angeles Lakers. Former Georgetown center Alonzo Mourning, also drafted in 1992, established himself as a premier big man with the Charlotte Hornets and, later, the Miami Heat, winning two Defensive Player of the Year Awards thanks to his prolific shot blocking while also proving a reliable scoring threat.

Centers in the 21st century

The balance of power shifted to the Western Conference, and the NBA was dominated by the Los Angeles Lakers, who won titles in 2000, '01, '02, '09, and '10, and the San Antonio Spurs, who won in '03, '05, and '07. The Lakers hired former Bulls coach Phil Jackson, and Shaquille O'Neal thrived in Jackson's triangle offense. The San Antonio Spurs were initially led by the 'Twin Towers' tandem of center David Robinson and power forward Tim Duncan. With the arrival of Duncan, the veteran Robinson modified his game by playing primarily in the high post to accommodate Duncan's strengths as a low-post scorer and defender.

In the 1990s, an increasing number of smaller forwards, most notably Dennis Rodman and Charles Barkley, excelled at the traditional Center functions of rebounding, shot-blocking and low-post defense, anticipating a trend towards relying on shorter and quicker post players that has continued into the 2000s, as exemplified by perennial Defensive Players of the Year Ben Wallace and Ron Artest. In the fast break oriented style of offense employed by a growing number of teams, the traditional role of the Center is diminished, if not done away with altogether. Many talented big men have elected to play the more versatile power forward position, giving them more room to run the floor and play outside the paint. The best example of this is Kevin Garnett, a 7-footer (2.13 m and above) who listed his height as 6'11" (2.10 m) in order to avoid playing Center. Under the influence of European basketball, the offensive role of big men has been redefined to include more emphasis on perimeter play, as exemplified by 3-point shooting big men like Dirk Nowitzki, Mehmet Okur, Andrea Bargnani and Channing Frye.

The 7'6" (2.28 m) Yao Ming was drafted by the Houston Rockets with tremendous hype in 2002; possessing unprecedented shooting touch and coordination for a player of his height, many experts predicted he would revolutionize basketball. Yao has proven a highly efficient rebounder and scorer, particularly with his mid-range jump shot, and shown the potential to be an elite defender. Another heralded young prospect, Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic, has used his exceptional vertical leap to become one of the top rebounders in the NBA, while his spectacular slam dunks have made him a staple of highlight reels.

Dominant big men continue to anchor the teams that have had the most success in the post-season. Two of the last three teams to win championships have had notable centers: Detroit Pistons/Ben Wallace (2004) and Miami Heat/Shaquille O'Neal (2006). However, O'Neal's playing time has been increasingly limited by injuries, benefiting in the Heat's Championship run from the presence of another veteran, Alonzo Mourning, as his backup. Defensive specialist Ben Wallace, listed at 6'9" (2.05), is considered by most experts as a Power Forward playing out of position, although his strength, leaping ability and uncanny timing has enable him to dominate taller players in the low-post, helping him tie Dikembe Mutombo's record of four NBA Defensive Player of the Year Awards. The San Antonio Spurs have won 2 championships since the retirement of David Robinson, in 2005 and 2007, with Tim Duncan assuming an even greater share of the work as the primary rebounder, shot-blocker and low-post scorer, as well as taking most of the teams jump balls, although he continues to be listed primarily as a power forward. The entry into the NBA of Greg Oden, who won two national high school player of the year awards, led the Ohio State Buckeyes to the NCAA Finals, and is arguably the most physically skilled Center to come into the league since Dwight Howard, has caused many experts to predict a revival in the importance of the Center position.

Centers in women's basketball

In women's basketball, 7'0" (2.13 m) Iuliana Semenova pioneered the center position, helping the Soviet Union women's team win two Olympic Gold medals, in 1976 and 1980, and never losing a game in international competition. Semenova also led her club team, TTT Riga to fifteen European Champion's Cup titles. The 6'8" (2.03 m) Anne Donovan led the Old Dominion University Lady Monarchs to the 1979 Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women championship, and was the first female Naismith College Player of the Year recipient in 1983, before enjoying a successful professional career in Japan and Italy.

With the formation of the WNBA, Lisa Leslie established herself as the premier center, and the league's most popular player. The first WNBA player to reach the 3,000 point milestone, she led the Los Angeles Sparks to consecutive titles in 2001 and 2002, and holds the distinction of being the first player to dunk in a WNBA game. Other prominent centers in women's basketball include Australian Lauren Jackson of the Seattle Storm and Karl Malone's daughter Cheryl Ford of the Detroit Shock. Jackson can also be considered a forward-center because she is also a very good outside shooter, leading the WNBA in three-point shooting percentage in one season. Rebecca Lobo led the Connecticut Huskies to a NCAA Championship in 1995, but never recovered from a torn ACL and had a disappointing professional career. When at the University of Oklahoma, Courtney Paris was considered the next dominant female center after becoming the only NCAA player, male or female, to score 700 points, grab 500 rebounds and block 100 shots in a single season; however, she had a disappointing WNBA career and was waived before what would have been the start of her second season in 2010.

List of centers

See also

List of tallest players in National Basketball Association history

Notes

Further reading

Category:Basketball positions Category:Basketball terminology

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Coordinates	33°51′35.9″N151°12′40″N
name	Garrison Keillor
birth name	Gary Edward Keillor
birth date	August 07, 1942
birth place	Anoka, Minnesota
medium	Radio, Print
nationality	American
active	1969–present
genre	Observational comedy, Satire
subject	American culture (esp. the Midwest); American politics
spouse	Mary Guntzel (1965–1976) Ulla Skaerved (1985–1990) Jenny Lind Nilsson (1995–present)
notable work	Himself, Guy Noir, Lefty, Bob Burger, and Lake Wobegon narrator in ''A Prairie Home Companion''
footnotes	}}

Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (born August 7, 1942) is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio personality. He is known as host of the Minnesota Public Radio show ''A Prairie Home Companion'' (also known as ''Garrison Keillor's Radio Show'' on United Kingdom's BBC Radio 4 Extra, as well as on RTÉ in Ireland, Australia's ABC, and Radio New Zealand National in New Zealand).

Personal life

Keillor was born in Anoka, Minnesota, the son of Grace Ruth (née Denham) and John Philip Keillor, who was a carpenter and postal worker. The family belonged to the Plymouth Brethren, a fundamentalist Christian denomination Keillor has since left. He is six feet, three inches (1.9 m) tall and has Scots and Norwegian ancestry. Keillor is a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. In 2006 he told ''Christianity Today'' that he was attending the Episcopal church in Saint Paul, after previously attending a Lutheran church in New York. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor's degree in English in 1966. While there, he began his broadcasting career on the student-operated radio station known today as Radio K.

Keillor has been married three times:

To Mary Guntzel, from 1965 to 1976. The couple has one son, Jason, born in 1969.

To Ulla Skaerved (a former exchange student from Denmark at Keillor's high school whom he famously re-encountered at a class reunion), from 1985 to 1990.

To violinist Jenny Lind Nilsson (b. 1957), who is from his hometown of Anoka, since 1995. They have one daughter, Maia Grace Keillor, born December 29, 1997.

Between his first and second marriages he was also romantically involved with Margaret Moos, who worked as a producer of ''A Prairie Home Companion''.

The Keillors maintain homes on the Upper West Side of New York City and in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

One of his brothers, the historian Steven Keillor, is also an author.

On September 7, 2009, Keillor was briefly hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke.

Ancestors

In his book ''Homegrown Democrat'' (2004), Keillor mentions some of his noteworthy ancestors, including Joseph Crandall, who was an associate of Roger Williams (who founded the first American Baptist church as well as Rhode Island), and Prudence Crandall, who founded the first African-American women's school in America.

Career

Radio

Garrison Keillor started his professional radio career in November 1969 with Minnesota Educational Radio (MER), now Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) and distributing programs under the American Public Media (APM) brand. He hosted ''The Morning Program'' in the weekday drive time slot of 6 to 9 a.m. on KSJR 90.1 FM at St. John's University in Collegeville, which the station called "A Prairie Home Entertainment." The show's eclectic music was a major divergence from the station's usual classical fare. During this time he also began submitting fiction to ''The New Yorker,'' where his first story, "Local Family Keeps Son Happy," appeared on September 19, 1970.

Keillor resigned from ''The Morning Program'' in February 1971 to protest what he considered an attempt to interfere with his musical programming. The show became ''A Prairie Home Companion'' when he returned in October.

Keillor has attributed the idea for the live Saturday night radio program to his 1973 assignment to write about the Grand Ole Opry for ''The New Yorker'', but he had already begun showcasing local musicians on the morning show, despite limited studio space for them, and in August 1973 ''The Minneapolis Tribune'' reported MER's plans for a Saturday night version of ''A Prairie Home Companion'' with live musicians.

''A Prairie Home Companion'' debuted as an old-style variety show before a live audience on July 6, 1974, featuring guest musicians and a cadre cast doing musical numbers and comic skits replete with elaborate live sound effects. The show was punctuated by spoof commercial spots from such fictitious sponsors as Jack's Auto Repair ("All tracks lead to Jack's where the bright shining lights show you the way to complete satisfaction") and Powdermilk Biscuits, which "give shy persons the strength to get up and do what needs to be done." Later imaginary sponsors have included Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery ("If you can't find it at Ralph's, you can probably get along without it"), Bertha's Kitty Boutique, the Ketchup Advisory Board (which touted "the natural mellowing agents of ketchup"), the American Duct Tape Council, and Bebop-A-Reebop Rhubarb Pie ("sweetening the sour taste of failure through the generations"). The show also contains parodic serial melodramas, such as ''The Adventures of Guy Noir, Private Eye'' and ''The Lives of the Cowboys.'' After the show's intermission, Keillor reads clever and often humorous greetings to friends and family at home submitted by members of the theater audience in exchange for an honorarium.

Also in the second half of the show, the broadcasts showcase a weekly monologue by Keillor entitled ''The News from Lake Wobegon.'' The town is based in part on Keillor's own hometown of Anoka, Minnesota, and in part on Freeport and other towns in Stearns County, where he lived in the early 1970s. Lake Wobegon is a quintessential but fictional Minnesotan small town "where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average." ''A Prairie Home Companion'' ran until 1987, when Keillor decided to end it; he worked on other projects, including another live radio program, "The American Radio Company of the Air"—which had almost the same format as ''A Prairie Home Companion'''s—for several years. In 1993 he began producing ''A Prairie Home Companion'' again, in a format nearly identical to the original's, and has done so since. On ''A Prairie Home Companion,'' Keillor receives no billing or credit (except "written by Sarah Bellum," a joking reference to his own brain); his name is not mentioned unless a guest addresses him by his first name or the initials "G. K.," though some sketches feature Keillor as his alter ego, Carson Wyler.

''A Prairie Home Companion'' regularly goes on the road and is broadcast live from popular venues around the United States, often featuring local celebrities and skits incorporating local color. Keillor also sometimes gives broadcast performances of a similar nature that do not carry the "Prairie Home Companion" brand, as in his 2008 appearance at the Oregon Bach Festival. In March 2011, Keillor announced that he would be retiring from "A Prairie Home Companion" in 2013.

Keillor is also the host of ''The Writer's Almanac'' which, like ''A Prairie Home Companion,'' is produced and distributed by American Public Media. ''The Writer's Almanac'' is also available online and via daily e-mail installments by subscription.

Writing

Keillor has written numerous magazine and newspaper articles and more than a dozen books for adults as well as children. In addition to writing for ''The New Yorker,'' he has written for ''The Atlantic Monthly'' and ''Salon.com.''

He also authored an advice column at ''Salon.com'' under the name "Mr. Blue." Following a heart operation, he resigned on September 4, 2001, his last column being titled "Every dog has his day":

Illness offers the chance to think long thoughts about the future (praying that we yet have one, dear God), and so I have, and so this is the last column of Mr. Blue, under my authorship, for Salon. Over the years, Mr. Blue's strongest advice has come down on the side of freedom in our personal lives, freedom from crushing obligation and overwork and family expectations and the freedom to walk our own walk and be who we are. And some of the best letters have been addressed to younger readers trapped in jobs like steel suits, advising them to bust loose and go off and have an adventure. Some of the advisees have written back to inform Mr. Blue that the advice was taken and that the adventure changed their lives. This was gratifying.

So now I am simply taking my own advice. Cut back on obligations: Promote a certain elegant looseness in life. Simple as that. Winter and spring, I almost capsized from work, and in the summer I had a week in St. Mary's Hospital to sit and think, and that's the result. Every dog has his day and I've had mine and given whatever advice was mine to give (and a little more). It was exhilarating to get the chance to be useful, which is always an issue for a writer (What good does fiction do?), and Mr. Blue was a way to be useful. Nothing human is beneath a writer's attention; the basic questions about how to attract a lover and what to do with one once you get one and how to deal with disappointment in marriage are the stuff that fiction is made from, so why not try to speak directly? And so I did. And now it's time to move on.

In 2004 Keillor published a collection of political essays, ''Homegrown Democrat,'' and in June 2005 he began a column called "The Old Scout", which ran at Salon.com and in syndicated newspapers. The column went on hiatus in April 2010 "so that he [could] finish a screenplay and start writing a novel".

Keillor wrote the screenplay for the 2006 movie ''A Prairie Home Companion,'' directed by Robert Altman. (Keillor also appears in the movie.)

Bookselling

On November 1, 2006, Keillor opened an independent bookstore in the historic Cathedral Hill area of Saint Paul, Minnesota. "Common Good Books, G. Keillor, Prop." is located at the southwest corner of Selby and N. Western Avenues (in the Blair Arcade Building, Suite 14, in the basement, below Nina's Coffee Cafe). Cathedral Hill is in the Summit-University neighborhood. The bookstore's opening was covered by the ''St. Paul Pioneer Press''.

Awards and other recognition

Keillor received a Medal for Spoken Language from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1990. In 1994, Keillor was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame. He received a National Humanities Medal from the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1999. "Welcome to Minnesota" markers in interstate rest areas near the state's borders include statements such as "Like its neighbors, the thirty-second state grew as a collection of small farm communities, many settled by immigrants from Scandinavia and Germany. Two of the nation's favorite fictional small towns -- Sinclair Lewis's Gopher Prairie and Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon -- reflect that heritage." In 2007, The Moth, a NYC-based not-for-profit storytelling organization, awarded Garrison Keillor the first ''The Moth Award - Honoring the Art of the Raconteur'' at the annual Moth Ball. In September 2007, Keillor was awarded the 2007 John Steinbeck Award, given to artists who capture "the spirit of Steinbeck's empathy, commitment to democratic values, and belief in the dignity of the common man." Keillor received a Grammy Award in 1988 for his recording of ''Lake Wobegon Days''. He has also received two CableACE Awards and a George Foster Peabody Award.

Controversies

In 2005, Keillor's attorneys sent a cease-and-desist letter to MNSPeak.com regarding their production of a T-shirt bearing the inscription "A Prairie Ho Companion."

In 2006, after a visit to a United Methodist Church in Highland Park, Texas, Keillor created a local controversy with his remarks about the event, including the rhetorical suggestion of a connection between event participants and supporters of torture and a statement creating an impression of political intimidation: "I walked in, was met by two burly security men ... and within 10 minutes was told by three people that this was the Bushes' church and that it would be better if I didn't talk about politics." The security detail is purportedly routine for the venue, and according to participants, Keillor did not interact with any audience members between his arrival and his lecture. Supposedly, before Keillor's remarks, participants in the event had considered the visit to have been cordial and warm.

In 2007, Keillor wrote a column that in part criticized "stereotypical" gay parents, who he said were "sardonic fellows with fussy hair who live in over-decorated apartments with a striped sofa and a small weird dog and who worship campy performers." In response to the strong reactions of many readers, Keillor said

I live in a small world -- the world of entertainment, musicians, writers -- in which gayness is as common as having brown eyes .... And in that small world, we talk openly and we kid each other a lot. But in the larger world, gayness is controversial ... and so gay people feel besieged to some degree and rightly so .... My column spoke as we would speak in my small world, and it was read by people in the larger world and thus the misunderstanding. And for that, I am sorry. Gay people who set out to be parents can be just as good parents as anybody else, and they know that, and so do I.

In 2008, Keillor created a controversy in St. Paul when he filed a lawsuit against his neighbors' plans to build an addition on their home, citing his need for "light and air" and a view of "open space and beyond". Keillor's home is significantly larger than others in his neighborhood and would still be significantly larger than his neighbors' with its planned addition. Keillor came to an undisclosed settlement with his neighbors shortly after the story became public.

Voiceover work

Due to his distinctive North Central accent, Keillor is often used as a voiceover actor. Some notable appearances include: Voiceover artist for Honda UK's "the Power of Dreams" campaign. The campaign's most memorable advertisement is the 2003 Honda Accord commercial ''Cog'', which features a Heath Robinson contraption (Rube Goldberg Machine for those in the USA) made entirely of car parts. The commercial ends with Keillor asking, "Isn't it nice when things just work?" Since then, Keillor has voiced the tagline for most if not all Honda UK advertisements, and even sang the voiceover in the 2004 Honda Diesel commercial "Grrr". His most recent ad was a reworking of an existing commercial with digitally added England flags to tie in with the World Cup. Keillor's tagline was "Come on, England, keep the dream alive."

Voice of the Norse god Odin in an episode of the Disney animated series ''Hercules''.

Voice of Walt Whitman and other historical figures in Ken Burns's documentary series ''The Civil War and Baseball.''

Cultural references

His style, particularly his speaking voice, is often the subject of parody. ''The Simpsons'' parodied Keillor in an episode in which Homer is shown watching a Keillor-like monologist on television; Homer hit the set exclaiming "Stupid TV! Be more funny!".

One Boston radio critic likens Keillor and his "down comforter voice" to "a hypnotist intoning, 'You are getting sleepy now'," while noting that Keillor does play to listeners' intelligence. Keillor rarely reads his monologue from a script.

One of the audio bumpers which begins each hour of Dennis Miller's radio talk show features a short clip of Keillor introducing a broadcast of ''APHC'', followed immediately by snoring.

In the bonus DVD material for the album ''Venue Songs'' by band They Might Be Giants, John Hodgman delivers a fictitious newscast in which he explains that "The Artist Formerly Known as Public Radio Host Garrison Keillor" and his "legacy of Midwestern pledge-drive funk" inspired the band's first "venue song."

Pennsylvanian singer-songwriter Tom Flannery wrote a song in 2003 entitled "I Want a Job Like Garrison Keillor's."

Bibliography

Keillor's work in print includes:

Lake Wobegon

''Lake Wobegon Days'' (1985), ISBN 0-14-013161-2; a recorded version of this won a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word or Non-musical Album in 1988

''Leaving Home'' (1987; collection of Lake Wobegon stories), ISBN 0-670-81976-X

''We Are Still Married'' (1989; collection including some Lake Wobegon stories), ISBN 0-670-82647-2

''Wobegon Boy'' (1997), ISBN 0-670-87807-3

''Lake Wobegon Summer 1956'' (2001), ISBN 0-571-21014-7

''In Search of Lake Wobegon'' (Photographs by Richard Olsenius, 2001), ISBN 0-670-03057-6

''Pontoon: A Novel of Lake Wobegon '' (2007), ISBN 0-670-06356-8

''Liberty: A Novel of Lake Wobegon '' (2008), ISBN 0-670-01991-7

''Life among the Lutherans'' (2009), ISBN 978-0-8066-7061-4

''Pilgrims: A Wobegon Romance'' (2009), ISBN 978-0-670-02109-3

Other

''Happy to Be Here'' (1981), ISBN 0-06-811201-7

''WLT: A Radio Romance'', (1991), ISBN 0-670-81857-7

''A Visit to Mark Twain's House audio (1992), ISBN 0-942110-82-X

''The Book of Guys'' (1993), ISBN 0-670-84943-X

''The Sandy Bottom Orchestra'' (with Jenny Lind Nilsson, 1996), ISBN 0-7868-1250-8

''Me, by Jimmy "Big Boy" Valente'' (1999), ISBN 0-670-88796-X

''Good Poems'' (2002), ISBN 0-670-03126-7

''Love Me'' (2003), ISBN 0-670-03246-8

''Homegrown Democrat'' (2004), ISBN 0-670-03365-0

''Good Poems for Hard Times'' (2005), ISBN 0-670-03436-3

''77 Love Sonnets'' (2009), ISBN 0-14-311527-8

''A Christmas Blizzard'' (2009), ISBN 978-0-670-02136-9

''Good Poems, American Places'' (2011), ISBN 0-670-02254-3

Contributions to ''The New Yorker''

! Title	! Department	! Volume/Part	! Date	! Page(s)	! Subject(s)
Notes and Comment	The Talk of the Town	60/47	7 January 1985	17-18	A friend's visit to San Francisco and Stinson Beach, California.

See also

A Prairie Home Companion

References

Keillor, Garrison. In search of Lake Wobegon. ''National Geographic.'' December 2000.

Lee, Judith Yaross. ''Garrison Keillor: A Voice of America.'' Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1991. ISBN 978-0-87805-457-2.

"Lights! Camera! Retake!". ''Telegraph'' (2003). Retrieved 2005-06-07.

External links

A Prairie Home Companion radio website Garrison Keillor's public radio show

A Prairie Home Companion movie website The movie written by Garrison Keillor and directed by Robert Altman

Minnesota Zen Master - a detailed profile of Garrison Keillor, published in ''The Guardian'', March 6, 2004.

Kingdom of the Frown - A feature article from The Reykjavík Grapevine on Garrison Keillor

At Home With Garrison Keillor: Where All the Rooms Are Above Average New York Times June 1, 2006

Garrison Keillor ''Charlie Rose'' interviews

Garrison Keillor at City Arts & Lecture on Fora.tv

An interview with Garrison Keillor (www.everydayyeah.com)

Garrison Keillor - The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes PBS ''American Masters''

Speech by Keillor at Concordia University February 15, 2011

Category:American advice columnists Category:American Episcopalians Category:American humorists Category:American Public Media Category:American public radio personalities Category:American radio actors Category:American radio personalities Category:American satirists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:National Radio Hall of Fame inductees Category:Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Category:Minnesota Public Radio Category:The New Yorker people Category:The New Yorker staff writers Category:Writers from Minnesota Category:People from Ramsey County, Minnesota Category:People from Saint Paul, Minnesota Category:American people of Scottish descent Category:University of Minnesota alumni Category:1942 births Category:Living people Category:National Humanities Medal recipients

de:Garrison Keillor fr:Garrison Keillor he:גאריסון קיילור no:Garrison Keillor fi:Garrison Keillor

Coordinates	33°51′35.9″N151°12′40″N
name	Julia Child
birth date	August 15, 1912
birth place	Pasadena, California
death date	August 13, 2004
death place	Montecito, California
spouse	Married September 1, 1946
style	French
education	Smith College B.A. History 1934Le Cordon Bleu''Le Grand Diplôme''
television	''The French Chef'', "Julia Child: bon appétit", ''Julia Child & Company'', ''Dinner at Julia's'', ''Cooking with Master Chefs'', ''In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs'', ''Baking with Julia'', ''Julia Child & Jacques Pépin Cooking at Home''
awards	Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Service Show Host1996 ''In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs''2001 ''Julia & Jacques Cooking at Home'' Emmy Award for Achievements in Educational Television—Individuals1966 ''The French Chef'' Peabody Award1965 ''The French Chef'' }}

Julia Child (née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 August 13, 2004) was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for introducing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, ''Mastering the Art of French Cooking'', and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was ''The French Chef'', which premiered in 1963.

Childhood and education

Child was born Julia Carolyn McWilliams in Pasadena, California, the daughter of John McWilliams, Jr., a Princeton University graduate and prominent land manager, and his wife, the former Julia Carolyn ("Caro") Weston, a paper-company heiress whose father, Byron Curtis Weston, served as lieutenant governor of Massachusetts. The eldest of three children, she had a brother, John III (1914–2002), and a sister, Dorothy Dean (1917–2006).

Child attended Westridge School, Polytechnic School from fourth grade to ninth grade and then The Katherine Branson School in Ross, California, which was at the time a boarding school. At six feet, two inches (1.88 m) tall, Child played tennis, golf, and basketball as a child and continued to play sports while attending Smith College, from which she graduated in 1934 with a major in English. A press release issued by Smith in 2004 states that her major was history.

Following her graduation from college, Child moved to New York City, where she worked as a copywriter for the advertising department of upscale home-furnishing firm W. & J. Sloane. Returning to California in 1937, she spent the next four years writing for local publications and working in advertising.

World War II

Child joined the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) after finding that she was too tall to enlist in the Women's Army Corps (WACs) or in the U.S. Navy's WAVES. She began her OSS career as a typist at its headquarters in Washington, but because of her education and experience soon was given a more responsible position as a top secret researcher working directly for the head of OSS, General William J. Donovan. As a research assistant in the Secret Intelligence division, she typed 10,000 names on white note cards to keep track of officers. For a year, she worked at the OSS Emergency Rescue Equipment Section (ERES) in Washington, D.C. as a file clerk and then as an assistant to developers of a shark repellent needed to ensure that sharks would not explode ordnance targeting German U-boats. In 1944 she was posted to Kandy, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where her responsibilities included "registering, cataloging and channeling a great volume of highly classified communications" for the OSS's clandestine stations in Asia. She was later posted to China, where she received the Emblem of Meritorious Civilian Service as head of the Registry of the OSS Secretariat. For her service, Child received an award that cited her many virtues, including her "drive and inherent cheerfulness." As with other OSS records, Child's file was declassified in 2008, and, unlike other files, her complete file is available online.

While in Ceylon, she met Paul Cushing Child, also an OSS employee, and the two were married September 1, 1946 in Lumberville, Pennsylvania, later moving to Washington, D.C. Child, a New Jersey native who had lived in Paris as an artist and poet, was known for his sophisticated palate, and introduced his wife to fine cuisine. He joined the United States Foreign Service and in 1948 the couple moved to Paris when the US State Department assigned Paul there as an exhibits officer with the United States Information Agency. The couple had no children.

Post-war France

Child repeatedly recalled her first meal in Rouen as a culinary revelation; once, she described the meal of oysters, sole meunière, and fine wine to ''The New York Times'' as "an opening up of the soul and spirit for me." In Paris she attended the famous Le Cordon Bleu cooking school and later studied privately with Max Bugnard and other master chefs. She joined the women's cooking club ''Cercle des Gourmettes''; through the club she met Simone Beck, who was writing a French cookbook for Americans with her friend Louisette Bertholle. Beck proposed that Child work with them, to make the book appeal to Americans.

In 1951, Child, Beck, and Bertholle began to teach cooking to American women in Child's Paris kitchen, calling their informal school ''L'école des trois gourmandes'' (The School of the Three Food Lovers). For the next decade, as the Childs moved around Europe and finally to Cambridge, Massachusetts, the three researched and repeatedly tested recipes. Child translated the French into English, making the recipes detailed, interesting, and practical.

In 1963, the Childs built a home near the Provence town of Plascassier in the hills above Cannes on property belonging to co-author Simone Beck and her husband, Jean Fischbacher. The Childs named it "La Pitchoune", a Provençal word meaning "the little one" but over time the property was often affectionately referred to simply as 'La Peetch'.

Books and television

The three would-be authors initially signed a contract with publisher Houghton Mifflin, which later rejected the manuscript for seeming too much like an encyclopedia. Finally, when it was first published in 1961 by Alfred A. Knopf, the 734-page ''Mastering the Art of French Cooking'' was a best-seller and received critical acclaim that derived in part from the American interest in French culture in the early 1960s. Lauded for its helpful illustrations and precise attention to detail, and for making fine cuisine accessible, the book is still in print and is considered a seminal culinary work. Following this success, Child wrote magazine articles and a regular column for ''The Boston Globe'' newspaper. She would go on to publish nearly twenty titles under her name and with others. Many, though not all, were related to her television shows. Her last book was the autobiographical ''My Life in France'', published posthumously in 2006 and written with her husband's nephew, Alex Prud'homme. The book recounts Child's life with her husband, Paul Child, in post-World War II France.

''The French Chef'' and related books

A 1962 appearance on a book review show on the National Educational Television (NET) station of Boston, WGBH, led to the inception of her first television cooking show after viewers enjoyed her demonstration of how to cook an omelette. ''The French Chef'' had its debut on February 11, 1963, on WGBH and was immediately successful. The show ran nationally for ten years and won Peabody and Emmy Awards, including the first Emmy award for an educational program. Though she was not the first television cook, Child was the most widely seen. She attracted the broadest audience with her cheery enthusiasm, distinctively charming warbly voice, and non-patronizing and unaffected manner.

In 1972, ''The French Chef'' became the first television program to be captioned for the deaf, albeit in the preliminary technology of open captioning.

Child's second book, ''The French Chef Cookbook,'' was a collection of the recipes she had demonstrated on the show. It was soon followed in 1971 by ''Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume Two,'' again in collaboration with Simone Beck, but not with Louisette Bertholle, the professional relationship with whom ended. Child's fourth book, ''From Julia Child's Kitchen,'' was illustrated with her husband's photographs and documented the color series of ''The French Chef,'' as well as providing an extensive library of kitchen notes compiled by Child during the course of the show.

In 1981 she founded The American Institute of Wine & Food, with vintners Robert Mondavi and Richard Graff, and others, to "advance the understanding, appreciation and quality of wine and food," a pursuit she had already begun with her books and television appearances.

Later shows and books

In the 1970s and 1980s, she was the star of numerous television programs, including ''Julia Child & Company'', ''Julia Child & More Company'' and ''Dinner at Julia's''; at the same time she also produced what she considered her magnum opus, a book and instructional video series collectively entitled ''The Way To Cook,'' which was published in 1989.

She starred in four more series in the 1990s that featured guest chefs: ''Cooking with Master Chefs,'' ''In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs,'' ''Baking With Julia,'' and ''Julia Child & Jacques Pépin Cooking at Home.'' She collaborated with Jacques Pépin many times for television programs and cookbooks. All of Child's books during this time stemmed from the television series of the same names.

Child's use of ingredients like butter and cream has been questioned by food critics and modern-day nutritionists. She addressed these criticisms throughout her career, predicting that a "fanatical fear of food" would take over the country's dining habits, and that focusing too much on nutrition takes the pleasure from enjoying food. In a 1990 interview, Child said, "Everybody is overreacting. If fear of food continues, it will be the death of gastronomy in the United States. Fortunately, the French don't suffer from the same hysteria we do. We should enjoy food and have fun. It is one of the simplest and nicest pleasures in life."

Home as television set

thumb|right|Julia Child's kitchenJulia Child's kitchen, designed by her husband, was the setting for three of her television shows. It is now on display at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. Beginning with ''In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs,'' the Childs' home kitchen in Cambridge was fully transformed into a functional set, with TV-quality lighting, three cameras positioned to catch all angles in the room, and a massive center island with a gas stovetop on one side and an electric stovetop on the other, but leaving the rest of the Childs' appliances alone, including "my wall oven with its squeaking door." This kitchen backdrop hosted nearly all of Child's 1990s television series.

Other appearances

She appeared in an episode of ''This Old House'' as designer of the kitchen. This Old House was launched in 1979 by Russell Morash, who helped create ''The French Chef with Julia Child''.

Awards

Emmy Awards

#1966: Achievements in Educational Television- Individuals for The French Chef, won #1972: Special Classification of Outstanding Program and Individual Achievement - General Programming for The French Chef, nominated #1994: Outstanding Informational Series for Cooking with Master Chefs, nominated

Daytime Emmy Awards

#1996: Outstanding Service Show Host for In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs, won #1997: Outstanding Service Show Host for Baking with Julia, nominated #1999 Outstanding Service Show Host for Baking with Julia, nominated #2000: Outstanding Service Show Host for Julia & Jacques Cooking at Home, nominated #2001: Outstanding Service Show Host for Julia & Jacques Cooking at Home, won

Peabody Awards

#1965: Personal Award for The French Chef, won

In popular culture

Child was a favorite of audiences from the moment of her television debut on public television in 1963, and she was a familiar part of American culture and the subject of numerous references. In 1966 she was featured on the cover of ''Time'' with the heading, "Our Lady of the Ladle."

In a 1978 ''Saturday Night Live'' sketch (episode 74), she was parodied by Dan Aykroyd continuing with a cooking show despite ludicrously profuse bleeding from a cut to his thumb, and eventually expiring while advising "Save the liver". Child reportedly loved this sketch so much she showed it to friends at parties.

Jean Stapleton portrayed her in a 1989 musical, ''Bon Appétit!'', based on one of her televised cooking lessons. The title derived from her famous TV sign-off: "This is Julia Child. Bon appétit!" She was the inspiration for the character "Julia Grownup" on the Children's Television Workshop program, ''The Electric Company'' (1971–1977), and was portrayed (or more accurately, parodied) in many other television and radio programs and skits, including ''The Cosby Show'' (1984–1992) by character Heathcliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby) and Garrison Keillor's radio series ''A Prairie Home Companion'' by voice actor Tim Russell. Julia Child's TV show is briefly portrayed in the 1986 movie, ''The Money Pit'' starring Tom Hanks and Shelley Long; the 1985 Madonna film ''Desperately Seeking Susan'' and the 1991 comedy ''Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead''. In 1993, she was the voice of Dr. Juliet Bleeb in the children's film ''We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story''.

In 2002, Child was the inspiration for "The Julie/Julia Project," a popular cooking blog by Julie Powell that was the basis of Powell's 2005 bestselling book, ''Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen'', the paperback version of which was retitled ''Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously''. The blog and book, along with Child's own memoir, in turn inspired the 2009 feature film ''Julie & Julia.'' (Meryl Streep portrayed Child in half the narrative.) Child is reported to have been unimpressed by Powell's blog, believing Powell's determination to cook every recipe in ''Mastering the Art of French Cooking'' in a year to be a stunt. Child's editor, Judith Jones, said in an interview: "Flinging around four-letter words when cooking isn't attractive, to me or Julia. She didn't want to endorse it. What came through on the blog was somebody who was doing it almost for the sake of a stunt. She would never really describe the end results, how delicious it was, and what she learned. Julia didn’t like what she called 'the flimsies.' She didn't suffer fools, if you know what I mean."

Retirement

After the death of her beloved friend Simone Beck, Child relinquished La Peetch after a month long stay in June 1992 with her niece, Phila, and her family. She turned the keys over to Jean Fischbacher's sister, just as she and Paul had promised nearly 30 years earlier. Paul, who was ten years older, died in 1994 after living in a nursing home for five years following a series of strokes in 1989.

In 2001, she moved to a retirement community in Santa Barbara, California, donating her house and office to Smith College, which later sold the house. She donated her kitchen, which her husband designed with high counters to accommodate her formidable height, and which served as the set for three of her television series, to the National Museum of American History, where it is now on display. Her iconic copper pots and pans were on display at COPIA in Napa, California, until August 2009 when they were reunited with her kitchen at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, DC.

In 2000, Child received the French Legion of Honor and was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2000. She was awarded the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2003. Child also received honorary doctorates from Harvard University, Johnson & Wales University in 1995, her alma mater Smith College, Brown University in 2000, and several other universities.

Death

On August 13, 2004, Julia Child died of kidney failure at her assisted-living home in Montecito, two days before her 92nd birthday. Child ended her last book ''My Life in France'' with "... thinking back on it now reminds that the pleasures of the table, and of life, are infinite - toujours bon appétit!"

Films

On August 18, 2004, a documentary filmed during her lifetime premiered. Produced by WGBH, the one-hour feature, ''Julia Child! America's Favorite Chef'', was aired as the first episode of the 18th season of the PBS series ''American Masters''. The film combined archive footage of Child with current footage from those who influenced and were influenced by her life and work.

A film adapted by Nora Ephron from Child's memoir ''My Life in France'' and from Julie Powell's memoir, and directed by Ephron, ''Julie & Julia'', was released on August 7, 2009. Meryl Streep played Child; her performance was nominated for numerous awards, winning the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical or Comedy.

A film titled ''Primordial Soup With Julia Child'' was on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's ''Life in The Universe'' gallery from 1976 until the gallery closed.

She also voiced the character Doctor Juliet Bleeb, an eccentric Museum of Natural History employee in the children's movie ''We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story''.

Public works

Television series

''The French Chef'' (1963–1973)

''Julia Child & Company'' (1978–1979)

''Julia Child & More Company'' (1980–1982)

''Dinner at Julia's'' (1983–1985)

''The Way To Cook'' (1989) six one-hour videocassettes

''A Birthday Party for Julia Child: Compliments to the Chef'' (1992)

''Cooking with Master Chefs: Hosted by Julia Child'' (1993–1994) 16 episodes

''Cooking In Concert: Julia Child & Jacques Pepin'' (1993)

''In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs'' (1994–1996), 39 episodes

''Cooking in Concert: Julia Child & Jacques Pepin'' (1995)

''Baking with Julia'' (1996–1998) 39 episodes

''Julia & Jacques Cooking at Home'' (1999–2000) 22 episodes

''Julia Child's Kitchen Wisdom'', (2000) two-hour special

DVD releases

''Julia Child's Kitchen Wisdom'' (2000)

''Julia and Jacques: Cooking at Home'' (2003)

''Julia Child: America's Favorite Chef'' (2004)

''The French Chef: Volume One'' (2005)

''The French Chef: Volume Two'' (2005)

''Julia Child! The French Chef'' (2006)

''The Way To Cook'' (2009)

''Baking With Julia'' (2009)

''Julie and Julia'' (2010)

Books

''Mastering the Art of French Cooking'' (1961), with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle—ISBN 0-375-41340-5

''The French Chef Cookbook'' (1968)—ISBN 0-394-40135-2

''Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume Two'' (1970), with Simone Beck—ISBN 0-394-40152-2

''From Julia Child's Kitchen'' (1975)—ISBN 0-517-20712-5

''Julia Child & Company'' (1978)—ISBN 0-345-31449-2

''Julia Child & More Company'' (1979)—ISBN 0-345-31450-6

''The Way To Cook'' (1989)—ISBN 0-394-53264-3

''Julia Child's Menu Cookbook'' (1991), one-volume edition of ''Julia Child & Company'' and ''Julia Child & More Company''—ISBN 0-517-06485-5

''Cooking With Master Chefs'' (1993)—ISBN 0-679-74829-6

''In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs'' (1995)—ISBN 0-679-43896-3

''Baking with Julia'' (1996)—ISBN 0-688-14657-0

''Julia's Delicious Little Dinners'' (1998)—ISBN 0-375-40336-1

''Julia's Menus For Special Occasions'' (1998)—ISBN 0-375-40338-8

''Julia's Breakfasts, Lunches & Suppers'' (1999)—ISBN 0-375-40339-6

''Julia's Casual Dinners'' (1999)—ISBN 0-375-40337-X

''Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home'' (1999), with Jacques Pépin—ISBN 0-375-40431-7

''Julia's Kitchen Wisdom'' (2000)—ISBN 0-375-41151-8

''My Life in France'' (2006, posthumous), with Alex Prud'homme—ISBN 1-4000-4346-8

(collected in) ''American Food Writing: An Anthology with Classic Recipes'', ed. Molly O'Neill (Library of America, 2007) ISBN 1598530054

By Others

''Appetite for Life : The Biography of Julia Child'' (1997), Fitch, Noel Riley—ISBN 0-385-49383-5

''Gifts of Age: 32 Remarkable Women'', Charlotte Painter (Chronicle Books, 1985) ISBN 978-0877013686. Interview with Child, with portrait on cover

''As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto'' (2010), ed. Joan Reardon

''A Covert Affair: Julia Child and Paul Child in the OSS'', Jennet Conant (Simon & Schuster, 2011).

References

External links

Julia Child: Lessons with Master Chefs from PBS

Julia Child's Kitchen at the Smithsonian

American television interview with Julia Child on June 25, 1999, at Google Video

Coverage of Julia Child in ''The New York Times''

Interview in Frontline Diplomacy: The Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training.

JULIA CHILD: 1912-2004 TV's French chef taught us how to cook with panache, Obituary in the ''San Francisco Chronicle''

The IMDb page for the film "Julie & Julia" starring Meryl Streep

Julia Child Papers.Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.

"Live Eat Enjoy: A Visit With Julia Child", ''Ms. Magazine'' Summer 2003

"No beef with Julia’s kitchen: Her home’s new owner lacks the bone appetite", ''The Boston Globe'' August 31, 2009

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Coordinates	33°51′35.9″N151°12′40″N
name	Jeff & Sheri Easter
background	group_or_band
genre	CCM, Southern Gospel
years active	1987–present
website	www.jeffandsherieaster.com
notable instruments	}}

Jeff & Sheri Easter is a Southern Gospel duo.

Career

Jeff Easter and Sheri Williamson met in August 1984 during the Albert E. Brumley|Albert E. Brumley Sundown to Sunup Gospel Sing in Arkansas. At the time, Jeff was the bassist for the Singing Americans, while Sheri was performing with The Lewis Family. After being introduced, they married ten months later.

After that, Jeff and Sheri traveled and performed as part of The Lewis Family, until they decided to pursue a career alone in 1988. Since that, they've released several albums and have been nominated to various awards.

Jeff and Sheri are currently joined in their presentations by their children: Madison (guitars) and Morgan (vocals). They have another daughter called Maura.

Discography

1987 ''New Tradition''

1988 ''Homefolks''

1988 ''Heirloom (Compilation project featuring Sheri, Candy Hemphill Christmas, and Tonya Goodman Sykes)''

1989 ''Picture Perfect Love''

1990 ''Brand New Love''

1991 ''Shining Through''

1992 ''Pickin’ The Best Live''

1993 ''The Gift''

1994 ''Thread of Hope''

1995 ''By Request''

1995 ''Silent Witness''

1995 ''Ever Faithful To You (Love Songs: A 10 Year Celebration)''

1996 ''Places In Time''

1997 ''Sheri (solo)''

1998 ''Work In Progress''

1999 ''Sittin’ On Cloud Nine''

2000 ''Ordinary Day''

2000 ''Through The Years''

2001 ''It Feels Like Christmas Again''

2002 ''My Oh My''

2003 ''Forever And A Day''

2003 ''Best of Friends (Compilation project featuring Sheri, Karen Peck, and Joyce Martin)''

2004 ''Sunshine''

2005 ''Miles & Milestones''

2006 ''Life Is Great and Gettin' Better!''

2008 ''Mayberry Live''

2009 ''We are Family (featuring Jeff & Sheri Easter, The Easter Brothers, & The Lewis Family)''

2010 ''Expecting Good Things''

2010 ''Live at Oak Tree''

Awards

Jeff & Sheri Easter have won several awards through their career. Among them:

5 Dove Awards

2 Grammy Award nominations

3 Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music Association Awards

2 International Country GMA Awards

16 Voice Awards

4 SGM Fan Fair/USGN Awards

5 SGN Scoops Diamond Awards

4 Hearts Aflame Awards

3 Cash Box Awards

References

Awards Biography .

External links

Official site

Category:Southern Gospel performers

Reggie and Ladye Love Smith are American vocalists. They have performed in over 12 countries, at such venues as Super Bowl XXVI, the Moscow Kremlin, Carnegie Hall, and the Grand Ole Opry. They have sung at Billy Graham Crusades and for former president George W. Bush. The Smiths have sung with some of the top singers in both country and gospel music including Bill Gaither, Dolly Parton, George Jones, Lee Greenwood, Brenda Lee, Ricky Skaggs, Steven Curtis Chapman, Bob Carlisle, Ray Boltz, Sandi Patty, Larnelle Harris, and Vestal Goodman.

Ladye Love Smith is a graduate of the University of Mississippi.

References

External links

[ List of credits @ AllMusic.com]

Reggie & Ladye Love Smith bio @ ChristianPublicityServices.com

Category:Living people Category:American gospel singers