MARSHALL (KMHL) – Acclaimed author and former Southwest Minnesota State University Professor, Howard Mohr, has died. Mohr, an Iowa native, began teaching in the English Department at Southwest in 1970 and went on to write for Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion” radio show. He expanded upon his writings, turning them into his 1987 book “How to Talk Minnesotan: A Visitors Guide”. The book detailed the Minnesota meaning behind popular phrases like “You Bet” and “That’s Different” and expounded on the difference between “A Good Deal” and “A Heckuva Deal”. The book found great acclaim and has become a piece of Minnesota literary and humor history. “How to Talk Minnesotan” eventually became a musical, a Public TV special and even got an update in 2013. Mohr lived on a farm near Cottonwood and is survived by his wife of 59 years, Jody and their daughter Susan. He was 83.
