Thomas Alan Keith (December 21, 1946 – October 30, 2011) was a

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

personality who worked for

Minnesota Public Radio Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) is a public radio network for the state of Minnesota. With its three services, KNOW-FM, News & Information, KSJN, YourClassical MPR and KCMP, The Current, MPR operates a 46-station regional radio network in the upper ...

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...

. He was the engineer for

Garrison Keillor Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (; born August 7, 1942) is an American author, singer, humorist, voice actor, and radio personality. He created the Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) show ''A Prairie Home Companion'' (called ''Garrison Keillor's Radio ...

when the latter began his early morning radio show from the St. John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota studio. Keillor wanted dialogue during the program and Keith was about the only other person around at that early hour. Keith was one of the primary sound effects performers for the radio show ''

A Prairie Home Companion ''A Prairie Home Companion'' was a weekly radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor that aired live from 1974 to 2016. In 2016, musician Chris Thile took over as host, and the successor show was eventually renamed ''Live from He ...

'' and was often an actor in sketches written by Keillor. Keillor created the persona of Jim Ed Poole for Keith on the old early morning show. Jim Ed was said to have grown up in West St. Paul, Minnesota and graduated from

Henry Sibley High School Two Rivers High School (formerly known as Henry Sibley High School), in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, United States, was founded in 1954. The school was built in 1971 to serve students in grades 9–12. Today, it serves students in grades 9–12 an ...

. After serving in the

Marine Corps Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included raiding ashore (often in supp ...

, Keith earned a degree from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

. When production of the radio program moved to St. Paul, Tom Keith continued to play Jim Ed who lived in the Hotel Transom with his pet

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

, Curtis. When Keillor left the morning program, Keith was joined on ''The Morning Show'' by Dale Connelly. He maintained the Jim Ed Poole persona and developed several other characters (like Dr. Larry Kyle of Genway Laboratories and B. Marty Barry the self-described "bottomless well of wellness") in cooperation with Connelly. Keith developed his vocal and sound effects skills on the morning program and later on ''A Prairie Home Companion''. On October 15, 2008, Keith announced his intention to retire on December 11. ''The Morning Show'' was discontinued after a final live performance at the

Fitzgerald Theater The Fitzgerald Theater is the oldest active theatre in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and the home of American Public Media's ''Live from Here'' (formerly ''A Prairie Home Companion''). It was one of many theaters built by the Shubert Theatre Corporati ...

in St. Paul that morning.

Death

Minnesota Public Radio announced that Keith died October 30, 2011, at his home due to a massive pulmonary embolism. He was 64 years old. In 2012, A Prairie Home Companion released ''Tom Keith - Sound Effects Man'', a CD collecting eleven of his featured performances from the live radio show.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keith, Tom 1946 births 2011 deaths American Public Media American radio personalities Minnesota Public Radio people Animal impersonators Mass media people from Saint Paul, Minnesota United States Marines University of Minnesota alumni

Death

See also

References