Bob Edwards, longtime host of NPR's “Morning Edition,” dies at age 76

Bob Edwards, host of NPR's “Morning Edition” for nearly a quarter century, whose rich baritone and cool demeanor imbued his radio broadcasts with authority in reaching millions of listeners, died Saturday. He was 76.

NPR, which one announced his death on Monday, gave no cause and did not say where he died.

Mr. Edwards, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, who knew from an early age that he wanted to work in radio, joined NPR in 1974, during the Watergate hearings. That year, he became co-host of “All Things Considered,” the public broadcaster's signature evening news magazine with interviews, analyzes and features. Its success led to the spin-off 'Morning Edition' in 1979.

Mr. Edwards started as temporary host of that program for 30 days before serving as anchor for 24 and a half years.

“Bob Edwards understood the intimate and distinctly personal connection with audiences that sets audio journalism apart from other media,” said John Lansing, CEO of NPR. said in a statement“and for decades he was a familiar voice in the daily lives of millions of NPR listeners.”

Susan Stamberg, his co-host on “All Things Considered,” described their oil and vinegar chemistry in an interview with NPR for Mr. Edwards's obituary.

“We had five good, if difficult, years together until we kind of fell into each other's groove, because he was Mr. Cool, he was Mr. authoritative and straightforward,” she said. “I was the New Yorker with a million ideas and a big smile. But we have adapted really well.”

For a quarter of a century, she called him “the voice we woke up to.”

On 'Morning Edition' Mr. Edwards's thousands of prominent figures in the news, including singer Dolly Parton and famed baseball host Red Barber, with whom he conducted a popular regular segment of commentary.

Mr. Edwards was kicked out of Morning Edition in 2004, a move that sparked protests from listeners and even reached the halls of Congress, where Senator Dick Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, rose on the Senate floor to object and dismissed Mr. Edwards “the most successful morning voice in America.”

Mr. Edwards discussed his departure on the air with his NPR colleague Scott Simon, saying, “Tastes change, and they have different ideas about the program and who should do it.” He was replaced by Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne.

Robert Alan Edwards was born on May 16, 1947. He knew he had a voice for radio when he answered the phone as a child and callers would say, “Hello, Mr. Edwards,” assuming he was his father. Mr. Simon said.

Early in his career, he worked for a station in Indiana and in Korea for Armed Forces Radio and Television, according to a biography in the Radio Hall of Fame, which initiated him in 2004. He won a Peabody Award in 2000 for “Morning Edition,” which the awards committee described as “two hours of daily in-depth news and entertainment, expertly helmed by a man who embodies the essence of radio excellence.”

After his last 'Morning Edition' broadcast, on April 30, 2004, Mr. Edwards' “The Bob Edwards Show” on SiriusXM Radio, which ran through 2014, and “Bob Edwards Weekend,” which aired on public radio. stations.

“He was fond of even the smallest details and lived by the philosophy that 'less is more,'” his wife, Windsor Johnston, an NPR reporter and host, wrote on Facebook on Monday. “He helped pave the way for the younger generation of journalists who continue to make NPR what it is today.”

A full obituary will be published soon.