New York
CNN
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Bob Edwards, the longtime Nationwide Public Radio host and a goliath of the broadcasting world, died on Saturday, his spouse, NPR reporter Windsor Johnston, confirmed in a Facebook post. He was 76.
“Bob Edwards understood the intimate and distinctly private reference to audiences that distinguishes audio journalism from different mediums, and for many years he was a trusted voice within the lives of tens of millions of public radio listeners,” NPR CEO John Lansing said in a statement Monday. “Workers at NPR and all throughout the Community, together with these tens of millions of listeners, will bear in mind Bob Edwards with gratitude.”
Edwards started his 30-year tenure at NPR in 1974, when the community was nonetheless in its infancy. He co-hosted “All Issues Thought-about,” NPR’s night present, earlier than spearheading “Morning Version” as its inaugural host in 1979, a place he held till 2004.
In 1989, as this system was celebrating its tenth anniversary, then-NPR Government Producer Ellen McDonnell informed the Los Angeles Occasions that Edwards’ persona actually made the present what it was.
“Everybody feels they know Bob,” she stated. “We did analysis for our anniversary to see the place we’ve been and the place we ought to be going, and the one factor that consistently got here by is his heat. Individuals actually imagine they know Colonel Bob from Kentucky, that he’s their buddy. It’s beautiful.”
Raised in Kentucky, Edwards began his journalism profession at a radio station in New Albany, Indiana, whereas he was a senior in school, in line with the College of Louisville, his alma mater. After ending college, he was drafted into the US Military, the place he continued to host and produce packages for the American Forces Korea Community.
Edwards received quite a lot of accolades all through his profession, together with the 1984 Edward R. Murrow Award from the Company for Public Broadcasting, two Gabriel Awards from the Nationwide Catholic Affiliation of Broadcasters, the Alfred I. du Pont-Columbia College Award, and a Peabody Award.
“Morning Version will proceed to be my first supply for information,” he wrote in a letter to listeners about his exit. “I encourage all of its listeners to stick with this system. It’ll proceed to convey them probably the most in-depth and considerate journalism in broadcasting. I hope you proceed to pay attention and help your public radio station.”
Though he initially stated he “(deliberate) to be right here at NPR for the lengthy haul” and served a brief stint as senior correspondent, Edwards quickly left NPR for satellite tv for pc radio SiriusXM, the place he hosted “The Bob Edwards Present” till 2014. That very same 12 months, he was inducted into the Radio Corridor of Fame.
Edwards was additionally the writer of three books: “Fridays with Pink,” about his friendship with sportscaster Pink Barber; “Edward R. Murrow and the Start of Broadcast Journalism,” a historical past of the printed pioneer; and “A Voice within the Field: My Life in Radio,” a memoir about his profession in radio journalism.