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.
January 18, 1987 - MPR’s Gary Eichten recounts an early MPR memory which he thinks may have influenced his…and other’s trajectory. It involves classical records and a less than stellar joke.
May 27, 1987 - MPR’s Gary Eichten talks with Lou Bellamy, artistic director of The Penumbra Theatre, about August Wilson receiving a Pulitzer Prize Award.
October 12, 1987 - MPR Journal host Gary Eichten talks with MPR’s Jim Bickal from the locker room of the American League Champion Minnesota Twins. There is a lot of celebration on winning American League pennant…and champagne.
October 21, 1987 - MPR’s Gary Eichten interviews David Broder, journalist for The Washington Post. Broder laments the existence of Minnesota’s sports dome, and its detrimental effect on baseball.
May 19, 1988 - With the suicide death of Roger Caldwell, MPR Journal’s Gary Eichten takes a look back at the 1977 murders of Duluth heiress Elisabeth Congdon and her nurse. Caldwell plead guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to time served, or five years. Despite this, Caldwell repeatedly claimed innocence, including in a suicide note.
July 7, 1988 - MPR Journal’s Gary Eichten talks with Doris, a member of Ely’s centennial committee, about the city preparations for a special visitor during its 100 year celebration. A. Courtland Ely III, great-grandson of Ely's namesake, will be first time an “Ely” has visited the town.
September 15, 1988 - MPR’s Bill Wareham talks with Gary Eichten about Prince’s September 14th concert at Met Center in Bloomington. Wareham shares his thoughts of experience and of the Minnesota artist.
December 30, 1988 - As the year closes, MPR’s Gary Eichten focuses on a listener suggestion that MPR host Bob Potter runs for the office of U.S. presidency in 1992. Eichten gets some reactions to the idea from Potter’s colleagues, a political analyst…and Potter himself.
May 18, 1989 - MPR Journal’s Gary Eichten chats with with Garrison Keillor about his new program in New York, which will include monologue, music, and sketches. Keillor explains the difference of new endeavor to his well-known A Prairie Home Companion program.
May 31, 1989 - MPR Journal’s Gary Eichten interviews former Major League Baseball power hitter Don Baylor about the struggling Twins and his recollections as a member of Twins team during the 1987 championship season.