Posts tagged: garrison keillor

Garrison Keillor on John Updike's Death

February 8, 2009, by 4 comments

It’s little secret I’m a fan of Garrison Keillor’s essays. Here’s one excellent reason why:

“This is what the obituaries leave out. The giants fall and we leave them behind but who is left to bless us? Nobody. As long as John was in the world, you could imagine him calling up one morning and saying, “That was good. I liked that.” And now the phone is dead. I feel bereft.”

Read the rest from Garrison Keillor on John Updike.

The Leaner Copywriter Underground, and One Writer's (Satirical) Approach to Recession

December 10, 2008, by 9 comments

Only a minute or two for a little stream-of-consciousness here dear readers, but I wanted to welcome you to the new, pared-down theme surrounding the Copywriter Underground’s content.

Call it an overdue change of hairstyle – a new, minimalist look & feel reflecting my somewhat slimmed-down approach to work.

And yes, I’m suggesting it’s a trend.

After all, the words I generate these days spill out onto the screen of a simple text editor. I’m carefully managing my online time to waste less of it. And looking hard at a significant shift in my target markets.

It’s also a reflection of my admiration for the minimalist approach to copy (a result of “growing up” – at least in the advertising sense – during the Fallon/McElligot era of direct-but-smart print ads).

It might even reflect the difficult times, where those with the resources to engage in conspicuous consumption are finding themselves reticent to do so.

Satirizing the Recession

While I was forming this post in my head, I stumbled across a wonderful Garrison Keillor essay, and admit to having a soft spot for essayists in general.

Essayists and poets might tread the ground closest to copywriters in a purely stylistic sense (an assertion sure to generate disagreement among poets and essayists), but in this case, Keillor launches his work with a satirical poke at corporate bean counting, illuminating the wide gap between what companies do in recessions and what writers do:

I have bad news. In the midst of the worldwide economic meltdown we are experiencing these days, I have taken a hard look at revenue from this column and find that I am earning but a tiny fraction of the $6.5 million I had projected for 2008, which leaves me no choice but to impose aggressive cost reductions, including a 75 percent reduction in writing time and the elimination of editing. I apologize for the inconvenience. And I thank you for your patience.

Enjoy your day (remembering to slice away those parts of it that simply don’t serve you). I’ll be back soon with more from the slimmer, trimmer Underground.

Keep writing, Tom Chandler.