GaryOsberg.com

Good chilly morning from Collegeville,

We had a cold snap this week. My on-board thermometer read minus 13 one morning. They say it will warm up a bit on Sunday. It was bound to happen. Think spring.

Today is Gary Eichten’s last day hosting the MPR News Midday program. Gary started here at Collegeville as a student employee. I found his Student Time Card from March of 1967. That month he logged 225 1/2 hours. When would he have had time to study?

On today’s Midday show, the 11 a.m. hour will be a rebroadcast of last night’s discussion at The Fitzgerald Theater between Gary and Minnesota’s most famous living statesman, Walter Mondale. During the noon hour, Gary will be interviewed by Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer and will answer audience questions from the UBS Forum at our St. Paul headquarters. It will be historic. It will be great radio.

Gary Eichten has agreed to continue lending his talent and experience to MPR News in two ways: Gary will host a series of conversations at The Fitzgerald Theater called “The Political Condition”, a terrific event MPR will be offering later in this presidential election year. In the series, Gary will interview nationally prominent political figures to better understand the political process and the issues that the nation faces. The schedule of events and guests is being finalized. Gary will also serve as “editor at large” in the newsroom, a role where Gary will engage with our journalists and reporters on a regular basis and continue to give feedback on news coverage, events and how MPR handles them from the ground up. In addition, Gary will a mentor to new talent.

On a related note, Sunday will mark the 45th anniversary of our first broadcast on KSJR 90.1 from Collegeville. Now we are one the nation’s premier public radio networks, operating 43 stations and serving virtually all of Minnesota and parts of the surrounding states plus Sun Valley, Idaho.

The show this week is another live show from The Fitzgerald Theater in downtown St. Paul. Special guests include the original renegade guitar picker Leo Kottke and vocalist Andra Suchy. Enjoy the show.

If you are used to listening to APHC on the news network, you may want to switch over to the classical network broadcast, because the news show will be interrupted at 6 PM by the South Carolina election coverage from NPR. The entire show will be re-broadcast on the news network on Sunday at 11 AM and Sunday evening at 6 PM.

“Genius is seldom recognized for what it is: a great capacity for work.” Henry Ford