Tom Keith
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Tom Keith is a radio personality who works for Minnesota Public Radio in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was the engineer for Garrison Keillor when he began his early morning radio show from the St. John's University Collegeville studio. Keillor wanted dialogue during the program and Keith was about the only other person around at that early hour. Keith today is the primary sound effects man for the Prairie Home Companion radio show and often is 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 Sibley High School. He frequently made references to Ma and Pa Poole and his Scottish heritage. After serving in the Marine Corps, he earned a degree from the University of Minnesota. 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, Curtis.
When Keillor left the morning program, Keith was joined on The Morning Show by Dale Connelly. Keith 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 Prairie Home Companion.
