MPR News Editor-at-Large and Retired Host Gary Eichten has worn many hats during his 40-plus-year career at Minnesota Public Radio, including news director, special events producer and station manager. He has 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.
A graduate of St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, Eichten began his career at Minnesota Public Radio as a student announcer at KSJR (Minnesota Public Radio's first station). Among the honors Eichten has received during his career is the Corporation for Public Broadcasting award for best local news program. He also assisted in the development of two Peabody award-winning documentaries. In 2007, he was inducted into the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting's Hall of Fame. Eichten has also been awarded the prestigious 2011 Graven Award by the Premack Public Affairs Journalism Awards Board for his contribution to excellence in the journalism profession.
October 15, 2010 - Playwright and storyteller Kevin Kling tells more stories at his Club Book appearance at the Maplewood Library. Club Book is a Twin Cities-area program that brings popular authors to communities around the metro area. It is a program of the Metropolitan Library Services Agency, coordinated by the Library Foundation of Hennepin County.
October 14, 2010 - American RadioWorks' Stephen Smith and Kate Ellis join Midday to talk about their new book, "Say it Loud!: Great Speeches on Civil Rights and African American Identity."
October 6, 2010 - Midday presents an American RadioWorks documentary titled “Testing Teachers.” Studies show that students with the best teachers learn three times as much as students with the worst teachers. Politicians and education reformers are calling for big changes in how teachers are trained and evaluated - and in the way teachers are hired and fired too.
September 24, 2010 - Today is F. Scott Fitzgerald's birthday, and the theater that bears his namesake is turning 100 years old. To mark the occasion, author Patricia Hampl presents an original production, "The Big Time: F. Scott Fitzgerald." It's a staged storytelling of F. Scott Fitzgerald's vision of making it big. The performance was created by Hampl and music director Dan Chouinard, and it features singer Blake Hazard, who is Fitzgerald's great-grandaughter.
August 31, 2010 - Playwright and humorist Kevin Kling, one of Minnesota's best-known storytellers, speaks at the Maplewood Library as part of the Club Book program. Along with several plays, Kling is the author of two collections of stories, "The Dog Says How" and "Holiday Inn."
July 1, 2010 - Minnesota's award-winning childrens author Kate DiCamillo talks about why she writes and how she does it --and takes questions from kids-- at a recent Club Book event in Apple Valley. DiCamillo is the author of the wildly popular "Because of Winn-Dixie" and "The Tale of Despereaux." Club Book is a Twin Cities-area program that brings popular authors to communities around the metro area. It is coordinated by the Library Foundation of Hennepin County.
June 30, 2010 - Hear extended excerpts on questioning of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan by Minnesota Senators Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar, both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. This if followed by a segment on the late judge Gerald Heaney (January 29, 1918-June 22,2010), in his own words. Presented is MPR’s Stephanie Hemphill's 2006 "Voices of Minnesota" interview with Gerald Heaney about his 40-year career on the federal appeals court, his role in the DFL party, and his heroism as an Army Ranger on D-Day in World War II. Heaney died this month at the age of 92. The late Judge Gerald Heaney heard some 3,000 cases during his 4 decades on the federal bench as a U.S. Appeals Court Judge.
June 22, 2010 - Garrison Keillor on poems, prose, and growing up in the northern suburbs.
June 10, 2010 - Journalist and best-selling author Sebastian Junger speaks at the UBS Forum about his new book titled 'War'. The book follows a platoon of soldiers in Eastern Afghanistan and explores the psychological and social effects of combat in one of the most dangerous regions of the country.
June 4, 2010 - Dale Connelly joins Midday to talk about his 34-year career as a radio reporter, humorist, writer, and music host at Minnesota Public Radio. This morning was the last broadcast of The Dale Connelly Show on the Radio Heartland service.