Partnership of English Majors??

[recycled]

The PBS weekly radio show from St Paul, MN "Prarie Home Companion" has featured a few fake public announcements from "The Partnership of English Majors".

A Prairie Home Companion: February 19, 2005 - English Majors script

Any regular listener of PHC knows that Garrison Kiellor likes to mimic other commercials and public announcements to make those on his radio show sound real. The Partnership of English Majors fake announcements on PHC made you listen carefully to catch the sly wit and clever phrases. They were not as funny as those for the National Ketchup Advisory Board, but certainly clever. I always wondered if there was something like a real Partnership of English Majors. I just noticed this thread on CD, and I'll bet there are pseudo members in our midst. (I was an Electrical Engineering major, so I don't qualify).

[Rocky Raab]

No partnership that I know of, but I was indeed an English Lit major. My actual, career-intent major was AFROTC, but I couldn't declare that. I chose English because I found it easy, and the AF didn't care then; any degree was fine as long as you got one.

[Rob Allen]

Garrison Keillor's fake organization is the Professional Organization of English Majors. The show's website offers POEM t-shirts for sale.

[Rocky Raab]

I had a chance encounter with Keilor in the Salt Lake City airport once. He stumbled off a plane in his red sneakers, as disheveled as a vagrant and squinted murkily about through his bottle-glass lenses. I walked over to this unmistakeable man and said, "I can't offer you a powdermilk biscuit, but I can offer directions."

He smiled wryly and asked how to find his connecting gate.

I wish now I'd known about the P.O.E.M. thing. I'd have mentioned that instead!