Anyway, for all of you out there who live in America and listen to National Public Radio (aka NPR), Keats played a "cameo" role in a skit on Garrison Keilor's A Prairie Home Companion today.
For those of you who haven't heard of the show, it's a radio show hosted by writer and storyteller Garrison Keilor and contains skits, muscial guests, etc. and is fairly popular here in the States.
The skit in which Keats was mentioned was about "Ruth Harrison: Reference Librarian". This is a satire about the career of reference librarian (the show also has a satirical recurring "advertisment" skit about those who majored in English at college and, though they can correct everyone's grammar, can only get a job at a fast food restaurant--I can identify with that one because I, too, was an English major).
At the beginning of the skit, Ruth tells her teenage employee, Trent, to clean up the library.
"Trent, please take the John Keats death mask down from above the circulation desk and have it dusted before the party tonight."
Trent then asks Ruth why on earth they'd have a party at the library, While I was thinking: "Why on earth would they have John Keats' death mask hanging over the circulation desk??" Now that's one way to keep people *away* from the library. And I can't imagine anyone wanting to be at a party where some dead guy's face is hanging right over you like the grim reaper. I thought it was a funny image and I had to laugh. The irony of it was pretty hillarious and it was a great way to start the sketch.
