NPR’s pioneering voice Susan Stamberg has passed away.
On Thursday, October 16, National Public Radio (NPR) announced that its “founding mother” and the first female anchor to host a national news program breathed her last at age 87.
However, Susan Stamberg’s cause of death was not revealed immediately.
In his statement, Stamberg’s son Josh said, "A true humanitarian, she believed in the power of great journalism. Her life's work was connection, through ideas and culture."
The late American journalist began her career at NPR in the early 1970s, when the network was in its initial phase and was establishing itself through a growing collection of radio stations nationwide.
Throughout her career, Susan Stamberg interviewed thousands of individuals, including high-profile politicians and artists to lesser-known figures and behind-the-scenes Hollywood workers.
During an oral history interview with KLCC in January, the legendary anchor told the host she started co-hosting NPR’s All Things Considered in 1972 and there were no women in broadcasting she could look to as role model at that time.
“The only ones on were men, and the only thing I knew to do was imitate them,” she said.
Stamberg went on to share that initially she kept her voice low to sound authoritative. However, a few days later, program manager Bill Siemering asked her to be herself.
“And that was new too in its day, because everybody else, the women, were trained actors, and so they came with a very careful accents and very careful delivery. They weren’t relaxed and natural,” she told, adding, “So we made a new sound with radio as well, with NPR.”
Susan Stamberg is survived by her son Josh and granddaughters, Vivian and Lena.
