'How to Talk Minnesotan' author Howard Mohr dies at 83

The man who wrote a popular tongue-in-cheek guide to Minnesota culture has died. Howard Mohr's "How to Talk Minnesotan" was considered a classic of Minnesota humor. He was 83.

Mohr was a former professor at Southwest State University (now Southwest Minnesota State University) in Marshall, where poets Bill Holm and Stephen Dunn also taught. Mohr was a writer for the Prairie Home Companion radio show during the zenith of its run in the 1980s.

He compiled some of the skits he had written and performed and published “How to Talk Minnesotan: a Visitor's Guide” in 1987 to great acclaim, detailing the subtle meanings of phrases like "You bet," and "That's different."

The book eventually became a musical, a public television special and got an update in 2013.

Mohr lived for decades in southwestern Minnesota outside the town of Cottonwood. He died Sunday at the Prairie Home Fieldcrest Assisted Living Center in Cottonwood, with his family at his side. He is survived by his wife Jody, and their daughter Susan. Funeral services have not yet been scheduled.

Create a More Connected Minnesota

MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.