I grew up the child of a mixed-gender marriage that lasted until death parted them, and I could tell you about how good that is for children, and you could pay me whatever you think it's worth.

He isn't saying life was all great back then and that we should all go back to monogamy. He's saying life was different then. And it was. He's saying things have changed, some things for the better (the kids in the school) and some things not so much (such as some parents more concerned for their own happiness than for their children).

Now that I've explained it to you, why doesn't somebody pay me?

I grew up in that world, and you know, it wasn't that great.

Neither is this article. So, Garrison Keillor's joined the Family Values brigade. Try to keep your stroller off my ankles, will you, and your soccer SUV from rolling over.

As a straight, childfree woman, I'd be embarrassed to expose children to the cutesy homophobia you evince. And I hope your smugness is not contagious.

I think I'll go wash out my mind.

This was an interesting article by Mr. Keillor. Methinks he offers a cloaked confession.

“I grew up the child of a mixed-gender marriage that lasted until death parted them, and I could tell you about how good that is for children”, implies what he has done with his marriages and infidelity has not been good for his children.

“Monogamy put the parents in the background where they belong and we children were able to hold center stage,” while he, sometimes so childlike, has been trying to hold center stage for many years.

“Stereotypical gay men -- sardonic fellows with fussy hair … who worship campy performers and go in for flamboyance now and then themselves,” is quite an apt description of himself.

“It was I Love Reading Week, and I was there as an Author.” The capitalization of the word author – grandiosity that takes center stage away from the children.

Writing is a way towards healing. Healing is something for which we all strive.

when did andy rooney start writing for salon?

I was walking to the market the other day to pick up some fresh local tomatoes. They grow tomatoes in Minnesota now in the winter, in large indoor expanses using honest Minnesota dirt and melted Minnesota snow. Although it's nice to eat a fresh tomato in March, sometimes I'd rather wait until September. Few things refresh your soul like a fresh Minnesota tomato in the early autumn.

My thoughts aren't with autumn now, though, they are with spring. On my walk I noticed the first crocuses poking through the mud. It won't be long until the tulips and cherry blossoms join in. Early spring in Minnesota is like an early summer morning. You're just starting to awaken from a long slumber. You can feel that you'll be invigorated soon, but you aren't quite there yet. But that first poking crocus leaf promises that warmer days are coming soon. It promises baseball and splashing around the pool. It promises the Fourth of July parade, and vacations on the lake.

It promises early autumn tomatoes, eaten under the changing leaves of a maple tree.

I have made a solemn promise NEVER to slip into this sort of stodgy thinking. We have all heard it--the old person telling us how "you people" (meaning anyone 15 years younger) don't know what authenticity is.

Now we have it mixed with a bizarre Stepford Wives picture of marriage and parenting that rings of family values and homophobia.

I don't think that we should be surprised at Mr. Keillor's view of domesticity considering he spends every weekend unctuously spewing forth about a fictitious world that is permanently stuck in 1961--just liberal enough for Kennedy but still straight-laced and boring. It is sad that he took the time to write about it as well. He should have stuck with his quality satire and commentary and leave this drivel to the airwaves where the Volvo happy maggots can sip their Pinot Noir and laugh at "how delightful" that Irish singer was.

The irony over all this is that in many ways I agree with him--FOR MY OWN PERSONAL LIFE. I am in a 15 year monogamous marriage, I come from two parents still in love and married, and am married to a wife whose parents have over 40 years of marriage behind them. There is indeed a little subculture of people who do not come from broken homes who tend to search out (largely unconsciously) others like them, and for me, it is hard to imagine another model of marriage. I could spew forth about self-interest, narcissism, and divorce if I thought I had the answers but, of course, I don't. The moment one attaches value judgments about any of this is the moment they cross over the line--they have found their "inner Falwell." Pontificating about marriage is too tiresome, ambiguous, and plain boring.

One more point, the problem with kids these days is not exuberant parents crowding the stage, but excessive coddling and overworking of children to make them "little Einsteins" or, worse, "Little Brittney's."

OOPs I just leveled a value-laden judgment.

uh, duh, huh...get it?

I don't think it is entirely satire b/c of his penchant for glorifying "down-homeness." If it were meant to be, he is rubbing to close to stereotypes that his whole schtick has been built upon and thus he fails.

Admittedly, Keillor is too smart to be entirely serious about this commentary, but there is enough of a kernel of truth in it (the fact that it resonates with me on some level, for instance) that it crosses the line from satire's fantasy realm (ala Swift) and becomes didactic rather than ironic.

So, if it is meant to be purely satire...it is not very good.

So disappointing. I agree with epriuska's letter. My thoughts exactly.

So is the enemy divorce, gay people, or narcissistic parents? All of the above? As a gay parent, I am offended that you would make such ridiculous assumptions about my family. Shame on you. And I'm getting very tired of straight people telling me what they think of gay people and gay parents.

Thank God I did not grow up in the 50's.