Keillor's book store struck by burglars

ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Pastor Inqvist of the Lake Wobegon Lutheran Church would be shocked: Thieves have struck author Garrison Keillor's St. Paul, Minn., bookstore, officials say.

Video surveillance tapes showed a man and woman entering Keillor's store about 1:20 a.m. Thursday, making off with $3,000 from the safe of Common Good Books, store manager Martin Schmutterer told the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

"They were very calm about it," he said after posting still photos of the burglars online on the bookstore's blog page. Schmutterer said the pair smashed a window in a coffee shop above the store, then made their way downstairs to loot a safe.

Asked if Keillor, the celebrated author and host of the long-running public radio show "A Prairie Home Companion," on which Pastor Inqvist is a running character, had seen the video, Schmutterer said he had. He told the Pioneer Press the creator of the innocent, fictional town of Lake Wobegon didn't say much after seeing it.

"(Keillor is) very calm about it, but I wouldn't want to put words in his mouth," he said.