NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 Bob Edwards, who anchored 好色tv Public Radio's 鈥淢orning Edition鈥 for just under 25 years and was the baritone voice who told many Americans what had happened while they slept, has died.
Edwards, who died Saturday, was 76 years old. NPR had no further details.
He became co-host of 鈥淎ll Things Considered鈥 with Susan Stamberg in 1974 shortly after joining NPR, and was the founding anchor of 鈥淢orning Edition鈥 in 1979. He left NPR after being replaced on the show in 2004 鈥 a programming move that led to protests by thousands of listeners 鈥 and he joined SiriusXM satellite radio.
Edwards' deep, commanding voice gave many listeners the impression that he was older than he was. 鈥淗is was the voice we woke up to,鈥 Stamberg said.
For 12 years, he had regular conversations with veteran sportscaster Red Barber, which led to Edwards' book, 鈥淔riday with Red: A Radio Friendship.鈥
Edwards would tell listeners about well-known people who were celebrating birthdays. He later found out that his announcement of First Lady Rosalynn Carter's birthday surprised and saved her husband, President Jimmy Carter, who heard Edwards while out jogging; he had forgotten the birthday.
鈥淚 like sitting at the mic and being on the radio,鈥 Edwards said shortly before leaving NPR. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 still a kick.鈥
He wrote a memoir, 鈥淎 Voice in the Box: My Life in Radio,鈥 and a historical book about the medium, 鈥淓dward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism.鈥
John Lansing, NPR's CEO, said Edwards' former colleagues and listeners will remember him with gratitude.
鈥淏ob Edwards understood the intimate and directly 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,鈥 Lansing said.
