FIRST OFF . . .

Raconteur Garrison Keillor, creator of the mythical sleepy town Lake Wobegon, said Thursday that he will return to public radio for a new series of programs featuring his whimsical, homespun tales, to be produced by Minnesota Public Radio and distributed on American Public Radio. Keillor left public radio in June, 1987, where his “A Prairie Home Companion” had been a fixture on Saturday nights for 13 years. On his new program, scheduled to begin Sept. 30, Keillor will be heard live, as he was on “A Prairie Home Companion,” and before a theater audience in various venues. The 12-week series, whose working title is “Garrison Keillor’s American Radio Company of the Air,” will be broadcast Saturdays at 6 p.m. It is 99% certain that Keillor will be heard locally on KUSC-FM (91.5), said a spokeswoman for the station.