September 4, 2001

4:55 AM

Garrison Keillor is leavingSalon.com. I've become an avid read of Mr. Blue's column over the past couple of months and it's a shame to see him leave. This post doubles a bit as a question as Mr. Blue's departure leaves a gaping hole in my 'advice column' bookmark folder. Anyone have any favorite online advice columns to recommend?
posted by jedrek (23 comments total)

no
posted by monkeyJuice at 5:19 AM on September 4, 2001

I accept that ordinary rats need to ditch a sinking ship. But I take offense when rich and overfed rats such as Mr.Keillor leave a valiant little warship such as Salon.com, just when they need every bit of ballast they can get. Salon.com did a lot to resurrect his flagging career and even threatened to make him vaguely cool. This is how Mr.Keillor shows his gratitude.
Good riddance to the disloyal little pest, I say.
As for online advice columns, Jedrek, I thoroughly recommend "Ask Mary", posted every Friday, at Spectator.co.uk
posted by MiguelCardoso at 5:28 AM on September 4, 2001

Try Savage Love. He's in the onion, and has a website, I think.
posted by stoneegg21 at 6:00 AM on September 4, 2001

That ungrateful bastard. How dare he have a bad heart.
posted by Doug at 6:27 AM on September 4, 2001

Check out Sarah as she lays it down for her readers at The Vine (part of Tomato Nation). Advice with attitude.
posted by turaho at 6:39 AM on September 4, 2001

It's impossible to tell whether leaving is really Keillor's idea, or whether Salon just can't pay him what they agreed on. Given Salon's ongoing difficulties, I wouldn't be surprised if they just couldn't justify paying what they're surely paying him just for his name anymore.
posted by kindall at 7:39 AM on September 4, 2001

There's always The Helmet over at Jesse's Pith.org site.
posted by lock at 7:58 AM on September 4, 2001

I recommend the Washington Post's Carolyn Hax. Her advice is harsher than Mr. Blue's, but is often very clever and is no less addictive a read than Mr. Blue. Her Tell Me About It: Advice for the Under-30 Crowd column runs on Sundays and Fridays in the Post's Style section, and she does live online chats on Mondays and Fridays. She likes shoes and talking about her hirsute cartoonist hubby, Nick.
posted by Vacaloca at 8:17 AM on September 4, 2001

I too am feeling the loss. but then again, if I'd just had heart surgery, I'd probably be loathe to keep answering people's "should I have an affair/run away to finland/finish law school?" questions.
posted by epersonae at 8:20 AM on September 4, 2001

Keillor's basically applying the basic tenets of his column to his own situation, I think. After all, Mr Blue was just a fortnightly reiteration of Strether's "live all you can: it's a mistake not to."
posted by holgate at 8:41 AM on September 4, 2001

I recommend the Washington Post's Carolyn Hax

I concur. Carolyn does a great job, and dispenses very good and helpful advice.
posted by terrapin at 9:08 AM on September 4, 2001

I am going to miss Mr. Blue and all of the silly people who write to him. There is a decided lack of good advice columnists with a sense of humor and semi-modern ideas writing today. Poo!
posted by raintea at 9:15 AM on September 4, 2001

I'd much rather he give up Mr. Blue than PHC.

It seems to me like it's coincidental that he's giving up the column as Salon sails into the sunset. I don't suppose he was doing Mr. Blue for the cash in the first place, and I'd bet Salon would rather keep a big name like him around and move the column to the Premium stuff as a subscriber draw.

Meanwhile, he's still answering letters on the PHC website, so you don't have to miss out on your regular dose of online Keillor.
posted by briank at 9:19 AM on September 4, 2001

I read the column for a while and decided Keillor was making up all the letters as well as the answers. I just can't believe that everyone who writes to a internet advice column has a verbal IQ that high. His column was just another example of Salon's pandering use of sexual content.

Camille Paglia is the only columnist in Salon I have any use for.
posted by username at 9:50 AM on September 4, 2001

Everything I need to know I learned from Aunt Nettie.
posted by waffleboy at 10:23 AM on September 4, 2001

A close second to Mr. Blue would be "Ask Prudence" at Slate.com.

I do not work for Microsoft.
posted by gregwlsn at 10:34 AM on September 4, 2001

Mr. Blue was open about the fact that he edited his letters. As, I am sure, do most columnists: you don't need 3000 words of My Ugly Childhood to ask "Now that they're dead, should I go to the funeral?" So yes, I imagine there was a fair bit of re-writing going on.

And if you think the column was about *sex*, you must not have read it for very long. Truly I'm not sure where you're getting that.
posted by Sapphireblue at 2:26 PM on September 4, 2001

I've never been able to get into PHC, but I've been touched more than once by this column, when I happned to read it. A pity it must go away, but the material could well be getting stale, too.

I'll probably buy the book when it comes out.
posted by rushmc at 7:32 PM on September 4, 2001

That ungrateful bastard. How dare he have a bad heart.

Difficult to imagine that someone who creates such a soulful broadcast every week has anything but a great heart.
posted by ParisParamus at 7:37 PM on September 4, 2001

Username: I can assure you Mr. Blue does not make up his queries. I once wrote him and made it into the column after being edited heavily.
posted by reishus at 9:21 PM on September 4, 2001

Wow. Thank's for all the great feedback, even the Geillor bashing. I'm going to go check out all the new links, maybe find something to add to my iSilo list.

I forgot to mention that I also read Savage Love every Thursday, just wanted to drop the link.
posted by jedrek at 2:57 AM on September 5, 2001

It's prolly a little late to mention this, but I first read about this two weeks ago in Ken Layne's media column over at OJR.
posted by josholalia at 8:12 AM on September 5, 2001

OK, I'm wrong. Thanks for the correction, reishus. What was your letter about, anyway? Maybe I can find the Google cache...
posted by username at 9:56 AM on September 5, 2001