03-09-2010/03-10-2010 AS HE NEARS 90, WALT BODINE TO REDUCE WORKLOAD Kansas City broadcasting legend Walt Bodine, who will turn 90 in August, will reduce his workload to one day a week on his weekday 10 a.m. "Walt Bodine Show" on KCUR-89.3 FM. (LINK TO STORY ON HIS CAREER) While many of his loyal listeners may have assumed his loyal co-host and sidekick Gina Kauffman would be his likely successor, that apparently will not be the case.
"I have a lot of writing projects that demand my attention and energy right now," she told Bottom Line. "While I’ve been the cohost of the Walt Bodine Show, I have also been a fulltime graduate student pursuing an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in creative writing." Kauffman has one year left in her graduate program and will also be writing a book on some 19th century Kansas women and will be hosting live storytelling events at The Brick. "I was torn about the decision to leave the show, but know that it was time for me to give these other passions my attention, at least for a little while," she added. "I love working in broadcasting, in public radio in particular, and very much hope to get back to it soon."
KCUR Program Director Bill Anderson made the formal announcement of Bodine's reduced schedule:
Dear KCUR Listeners,
In a couple of months, and I say this with his permission, Walt Bodine will be turning 90 years old. “It’s an enormous number of years to have lived and I’m lucky to be in a great place”, Walt told me while enjoying one of his guilty pleasures, a scrumptious cinnamon roll. Walt is on vacation right now but is already preparing himself for the upcoming membership drive. Walt is also positioning himself to take on a different and still significant role at KCUR. He plans to cut back to a one-day-a-week on the Walt Bodine Show. And you can look forward to hearing Walt on Morning Edition as he collaborates with KCUR News Director Frank Morris on a series of features reports. Walt embraces this change and KCUR is on board, too. Walt’s earned a respite from the daily grind of churning out a live daily call-in show but we are delighted he is going to be making contributions on our most listened to program, Morning Edition. Of course, he’ll hold court with authority and that devilish sense of humor on the Friday editions of The Walt Bodine Show. The rest of the week at 10am you will hear other KCUR voices hosting the show for now. Walt likes to tease us when we sing his praises, “I’m not dead yet. Don’t bury me.” I always keep that in mind when I start to talk about his importance to me and KCUR, so let me stop here.
Sincerely,
Bill Anderson KCUR Program Director
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