BBC's Alistair Cooke signs off
 |
Cooke is perhaps best known for "Alastair Cooke's America" and as host of "Masterpiece Theatre."
Story Tools
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
|
Follow the news that matters to you. Create your own alert to be notified on topics you're interested in.
Or, visit Popular Alerts for suggestions.
|
|
LONDON, England -- Veteran BBC host Alistair Cooke is signing off after 58 years of his "Letters from America."
Poor health kept the 95-year-old from appearing last week, and the BBC said Cooke had decided to retire following advice from doctors.
Cooke, who lives in New York and has missed only three broadcasts in around 3,000 programs, thanked his listeners for their loyalty after announcing his retirement Tuesday.
"I can no longer continue my 'Letter From America,'" Cooke said.
"Throughout 58 years I have had much enjoyment in doing these talks and hope that some of it has passed over to the listeners, to all of whom I now say thank you for your loyalty and goodbye."
Millions of listeners across the world have tuned in for Cooke's weekly observations of life in America since his show began on Radio 4 in 1946. It also has been broadcast on the BBC World Service.
Cooke is perhaps best known for "Alistair Cooke's America," a BBC series aired around the world, and as host of the PBS series "Masterpiece Theatre" in the United States for 22 years.
Born Alfred Cooke in 1908 and raised in a boarding house in Blackpool, England, he changed his name to Alistair after graduating from Cambridge University with an honors degree in English and joined the BBC in 1934 as a film critic.
"Letter From America" -- said to be the world's longest-running radio speech program -- was originally intended to last only 13 weeks.
