The National Public Radio (NPR) reported earlier this week that Bob Edwards, the long-time host of “Morning Edition” and a public radio icon, passed away at 76. He had been on the air for almost a quarter of a century and had died due to heart failure and cancer.
As a newscaster and co-host of “All Things Considered” with Susan Stamberg, Edwards started working at NPR in 1974. He launched the successful news show “Morning Edition” in 1979, which was heard by millions of people globally and nationally.
He won numerous awards for his work, including a Peabody Award, a duPont-Columbia Award, and 2 Gabriel Awards. In 2004, he was also inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.
However, in the same year he was inducted, he left after a controversial decision by the network to replace him on “Morning Edition”. He later joined SiriusXM satellite radio, where he hosted “The Bob Edwards Show” until 2015.
He also wrote several books, including a memoir, “A Voice in the Box: My Life in Radio”, and a biography of Edward R. Murrow, the legendary broadcast journalist.
In the same statement announcing the radio icon’s death, NPR CEO John Lansing said that Bob Edwards,
“Understood the intimate and distinctly personal connection with audiences that distinguishes audio journalism from other mediums, and for decades he was a trusted voice in the lives of millions of public radio listeners.”
