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.
June 23, 2010 - On this Midday program, MPR’s Gary Eichten talks with Congressman Tim Walz, who represents Minnesota's 1st Congressional District. Topics include General Stanley McChrystal controversy, as well as the broader discussion on relationship between generals, diplomats, and the U.S. president. Walz also answers listener questions.
June 22, 2010 - Midday presents Garrison Keillor speaking on poems, prose, and growing up in the northern suburbs at a Club Book program event in Blaine.
June 10, 2010 - Journalist and best-selling author Sebastian Junger speaks at the UBS Forum about his 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. The two reflect on many of Connelly’s momentous on-air moments and includes clips from The Dale Connelly Show. Connelly also answers listener questions.
May 18, 2010 - UBS Forum guest Hampton Sides discusses his book Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin with MPR’s Stephen Smith. Sides is an American historian, author and journalist.
April 27, 2010 - Best-selling comic book and science fiction writer Neil Gaiman speaks at Stillwater High School as part of a new Twin Cities-wide program to celebrate reading. He's the first guest of the new Club Book program, bringing authors to metro communities. Gaiman is the award-winning author of "Coraline," "The Graveyard Book," and the acclaimed DC Comics series "Sandman."
April 27, 2010 - Star Tribune editorial writer and columnist Lori Sturdevant was awarded the David Graven Award at the 2010 Frank Premack Public Affairs Journalism Awards Program and joins Midday to talk about her 35 years of political reporting and editorial writing.
April 26, 2010 - Brian McLaren, featured speaker at the Westminster Town Hall Forum in downtown Minneapolis, discusses how to be a person of faith in today's world. McLaren is the founding pastor of a nondenominational church in the Baltimore area and the author of several books, including his latest, "A New Kind of Christianity."
April 19, 2010 - MPR’s Gary Eichten talks with Justice Alan Page, and wife Diane Sims Page, about the importance of educational achievement. The two co-founded the Page Education Foundation to help students of color.
April 8, 2010 - Nick Hayes, professor of history at Saint John's University in Collegeville, joins Midday in the studio to talk about his memoir "And One Fine Morning: Memories of My Father." The book traces his family origins and his father's story, including his father's experience growing up Catholic in Protestant Minneapolis.