Bob Edwards, NPR’s “Morning Edition” host for nearly a quarter century, whose rich baritone and cool demeanor infused his radio broadcasts with authority reaching millions of listeners, died Saturday in Arlington, Virginia. At the age of 76.
His death, in a rehabilitation facility, resulted from heart failure and complications from bladder cancer, said his wife, Windsor Johnston.
Mr. Edwards, a Kentucky native who knew from a young age that he wanted to be in radio, joined NPR in 1974, during the Watergate hearings. That year, he became co-anchor of “All Things Considered,” the public broadcaster’s popular evening newsmagazine of interviews, analysis and features. Its success led to the spinoff “Morning Edition” in 1979.
Mr. Edwards started as a 30-day interim host of this program before going on to host it for 24 and a half years.
“Bob Edwards understood the intimate and distinctly personal connection with audiences that distinguishes audio journalism from other media,” said John Lansing, NPR’s chief executive officer, “and for decades he was a trusted voice in the daily lives of millions of people. NPR listeners.”
Susan Stamberg, his co-host on “All Things Considered,” in an interview with NPR about his obituary for Mr. Edwards, described their chemistry in oil and vinegar.
“We had five good — if difficult — years together, until we got into each other’s rhythm, because he was Mr. Cool, he was Mr. Authentic and straight forward,” he said. “I was the New Yorker with a million ideas and a big laugh. But we actually adapted quite well.”
He called him “the voice we woke up to” for a quarter of a century.
On “Morning Edition,” Mr. Edwards interviewed thousands of prominent news figures, but also included features on the singer Dolly Parton and the famous baseball announcer Red Barber, with whom he did a popular weekly commentary segment.
Mr. Edwards was fired from “Morning Edition” in 2004, a move that led to protests from listeners and reached the halls of Congress, where Senator Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, rose to the Senate floor to object, calling him Mr. Edwards “the most successful morning voice in America.”
An NPR moderator, Jeffrey A. Dvorkin, wrote at the time that 35,000 listeners had commented on Mr. Edwards’ departure from the program, many disappointed and some suggesting the elderly. Mr. Edwards was about to turn 57.
He discussed his departure on air with NPR colleague Scott Simon, saying that “tastes change and they have different ideas about the program and who should do it.” He was replaced by Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne. (Today’s program is hosted by Mr. Inskeep, Leila Fadel, Michel Martin and A. Martínez.)
Robert Alan Edwards was born in Louisville on May 16, 1947 to Joseph and Loretta (Fuchs) Edwards. His father worked for the city government. Bob Edwards knew he had a radio voice when, as a child, he would answer the phone and callers would say, “Hi, Mr. Edwards,” assuming it was his father, he told Mr. Simon.
After graduating from the University of Louisville in 1969, he was drafted and sent to South Korea, where he worked for Armed Forces Radio and Television. He went on to earn a master’s degree in journalism at American University in Washington. He dropped his Kentucky accent and worked briefly at WTOP in Washington before joining NPR.
In 2000, Mr. Edwards won a Peabody Award for “Morning Edition,” which the awards committee described as “two hours of daily in-depth news and entertainment moderated by a man who embodies the essence of radio excellence.”
In addition to his wife, Ms. Johnston, a reporter and news anchor for NPR, he is survived by two daughters from a previous marriage, Susanna and Elinor Edwards, and a brother, Joe. His marriages to Joan Murphy and Sharon Kelly ended in divorce.
Mr. Edwards married Ms. Johnston in 2011. They had met several years earlier when she interviewed him for WHYY in Philadelphia about a book she wrote, “Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism.” He wrote two other books, A Voice in the Box: My Life in Radio and Fridays with Red: A Radio Friendship.
In a telephone interview, Ms. Johnston said that Mr. Edwards had long been upset that NPR ousted him from the “Morning Edition” anchor chair several months ago 25 years ago. “He never got over that,” she said.
After his last “Morning Edition” show on April 30, 2004, he was assigned to be a correspondent for NPR, but left soon after when he was approached to host a program on SiriusXM Radio. “The Bob Edwards Show,” as it was called, ran until 2014. He also appeared on “Bob Edwards Weekend” on public radio stations.
“He was a stickler for even the smallest details and lived by the philosophy that ‘less is more’,” Ms Johnston wrote on Facebook. “He helped pave the way for the younger generation of reporters who continue to make NPR what it is today.”
