Legendary BBC broadcaster Alistair Cooke retired today
after 58 years of presenting his radio program Letter from America.

The 95-year-old Cooke, who did not present the program last week due to illness, decided to quit the show on advice from his doctors.

Letter from America is the world’s longest-running spoken word radio program with the same presenter, and is heard weekly on ABC Radio National on Sundays at 11.45am.

Cooke says: “I can no longer continue my ‘Letter From America.’ Throughout 58 years I have had much enjoyment in doing these talks and hope that some of it has passed over to the listeners, to all of whom I now say thank you for your loyalty and goodbye.”

Cooke joined the BBC in 1934 as a film critic and began
reporting three years later. His Letters began in March 1946 and stemmed from a Sunday evening talk Cooke gave during the Second World War, American Commentary. After the war he was asked by the BBC to continue giving a weekly talk – not so much political, but about anything and everything American. There have been 2869 Letters in the past 58 years.

Letter From America has been broadcast in Australia since 12 May, 1974 on ABC Radio National (then known as Radio 2), but the program began in 1946 and has been broadcast on the BBC weekly since then.

Alistair Cooke has written his Letter every Thursday on his typewriter in the flat overlooking Central Park in New York. In almost 3000 Letters he has only missed three broadcasts. Letter From America gained a worldwide audience when the program was broadcast on the BBC World Service as well as domestic radio.

In honour of the enormous contribution Alistair Cooke has made to radio
listeners for the past 58 years, BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service will be broadcasting a selection from the archives over the coming weeks in
“A Celebration Of Letter From America”. ABC Radio National will also be
broadcasting these programs every Sunday at 11.45am.

You can listen to Cooke’s final broadcast by clicking below.