When Justice Harry Blackmun retired in 1994 and died in 1999, many of the articles about him repeated the oft-quoted label once applied to Blackmun by "A Prairie Home Companion" radio host Garrison Keillor: "The shy person's justice."
But based on Blackmun's file at the Library of Congress, Blackmun was anything but shy about his fondness for the show, for Keillor, and for all things relating to Minnesota Public Radio, which produces the show. Blackmun's hometown pride shows through for the radio phenomenon that may have done more than anything or anyone else to publicize St. Paul, Minn., where the show is usually taped.
The 13 file folders in the collection about "A Prairie Home Companion" are full of correspondence and memorabilia, including an Oct. 17, 1981, ticket stub for a taping of the show Blackmun attended.
Many more interesting details in this charming article by Tony Mauro of Legal Times via Law.com.