Thursday, 4:30 PM
Gary LaPierre gives his final broadcast on WBZ
(AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki)
Gary LaPierre, WBZ-AM morning anchor, retired today after more than 40 years with the station.
By Andrew Ryan, Globe Correspondent
Gary LaPierre can finally sleep in.
After more than 40 years of waking up at 3 a.m. to anchor the WBZ-AM morning radio broadcast, LaPierre got behind the microphone for the final time this morning.
"It's been a joy," said LaPierre, 64, wiping away tears as he signed off, feeling what he described as a "virtual tsunami of emotions."
To mark LaPierre's retirement, the WBZ studio was crowed today with red, white, and blue balloons, people in black and white tuxedoes, and the flashes of cameras. Video of LaPierre's last broadcast was streamed live on WBZ's website.
His final morning, LaPierre barely had time to read the news. He took calls Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Governor Mitt Romney, and other notable figures.
"Gary, I can't believe it," said former Governor Michael Dukakis, who also called in live on the air this morning. "When did we start in this business?"
LaPierre was hired by WBZ in 1964, when he was 22 years and a few years out of the now-defunct Grahm Junior College. He made news anchor two years later, and today his audience is about half a million.
Fighting back tears, LaPierre said good-bye just before 9:30 a.m.
"There is absolutely no way that I could sum up the job and what it's meant to me over the course of four decades," LaPierre said. "You have taken good care of this kid from Shelburne Falls who asked to be part of your life for the last 40 years, and I am going to miss it."
Details about LaPierre and his replacement can be found here and here. Listen to LaPierre’s final broadcast here.
