For many who have listened to the airwaves over the previous decades, Gary Eichten’s voice is synonymous to Minnesota Public Radio. The retired MPR News editor-at-large Eichten has worn many hats during his 40-plus-year career at MPR, including news director, special events producer, and station manager. He routinely served as host for Minnesota Public Radio's live-special events news coverage, and has hosted all of the major news programs on Minnesota Public Radio, including Midday (which he hosted for more than 20 years!).
It all began on April Fool’s Day in 1967, when Eichten started his career at Minnesota Public Radio as a student announcer at Collegeville’s KSJR, MPR’s first station. He became the station’s one-man news department and quickly found that turning up his headphones forced him to speak more intimately, which gave him that radio voice.
In the fall of 1992, Eichten moved from hosting the regional late-afternoon edition of All Things Considered to hosting Midday. In his new role, Eichten personified the art of hosting, a tradition begun by the program’s previous host, Bob Potter. It also solidified Gary’s distinct tone and insightful questions that listeners came to hear as being MPR.
As Midday host, Eichten let his guests answer those questions and sought to understand their responses. With daily early morning research, his respectful but direct on-air style, and assistance from his long-time producer Sara Meyer, Eichten found himself making memorable radio…from a poignant sign-off of the original regional “All Things Considered,” a live on-air moment with a contentious Governor Ventura, to even a pledge drive.
Among the honors Eichten received during his MPR career is the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Award for Best Local News Program and the prestigious 2011 Graven Award by the Premack Public Affairs Journalism Awards Board for his contribution to excellence in the journalism profession. He also assisted in the development of two Peabody award-winning documentaries. In 2007, Eichten was inducted into the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting's Hall of Fame.
Simply put, Mr. Eichten is a Minnesota treasure, on and off the air.
This large curation is indicative of the breadth of that work.
August 31, 1999 - Minnesota House Speaker Steve Sviggum talks about the House GOP's recently announced priorities. Sviggum also answers listener call-in questions.
September 1, 1999 - Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe will join us to talk about DFL priorities for the next session, and to respond to the Republican tax cut priority. Moe also answers listener call-in questions.
September 27, 1999 - As the Minnesota Literacy Summit gets underway in Minneapolis, a talk about the ways kids learn to read with Rosemary Miller, conference co-chair and coordinator of early literacy programs at the University of Minnesota.
October 8, 1999 - On this hour of Midday, a discussion about Minnesota Twins owner Carl Pohlad signing a letter of intent to sell the team, pending approval of a new ballpark in downtown St. Paul. If the deal goes through, sports moguls Glen Taylor and Robert Naegele will head up the new ownership group.
November 15, 1999 - MPR's special week of programming "The Surveillance Society" begins on Midday, where we hear about the range of private information about people that is available, who can find it, and how. Guests Ari Schwartz, policy analyst at the Center for Democracy & Technology in Washington D.C.; and Don Ray, independent investigative journalist and author of Public Records Primer and Investigators Handbook give insights into the topic.
December 8, 1999 - Midday holds a conversation on homelessness in Minnesota with Sue Watlov Phillips of Elim Transitional Housing and legislative chair of the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless; and with Herb Frey, program director for the Alliance of the Streets.
January 4, 2000 - Arthur Caplan, bioethicist and director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania and former director of a similar center at the U of M, talks about key ethical issues in the new millennium. Topics include breakthroughs in genetics, biology and stem cell research. Caplan also answers listener questions.
January 5, 2000 - On his 72nd birthday, Walter Mondale, former vice-president, talks with MPR’s Gary Eichten about America's role in the world, the year in politics, and the century ahead. Mondale also answers listener questions.
January 21, 2000 - George Latimer, former St. Paul Mayor; Dick Goebel, of the Second Harvest St. Paul Food Bank and the Food First Coalition; and Bonnie Becker of the Minnesota Department of Human Services, discuss the topic of hunger in Minnesota.
February 11, 2000 - Midday’s Gary Eichten spends the hour talking with Sharon Sayles Belton, mayor of Minneapolis, about what she sees as the state and health of the city. Topics include crime prevention and affordable housing, amongst others. Sayles Belton also answers listener questions.