The 2004 TCF Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient: Susan Stamberg

The Third Coast Festival Lifetime Achievement Award (now known as the Audio Luminary Award) is presented annually to an individual who is greatly admired for his or her significant and ongoing contributions to the field of radio. Hats off to the 2004 recipient, Susan Stamberg.

In 1972, as the co-host of the fledgling new program All Things Considered, Stamberg made broadcast history by becoming the first woman in the country to anchor a national news program. Inducted into the Broadcast Hall of Fame in 1996, she is currently a special correspondent for NPR.

Stamberg is highly revered by radio professionals as both an innovator and a mentor. Independent producer Neenah Ellis, who worked with Stamberg at NPR for many years, says she brought "a dogged news sensibility" to public radio, "and dared to let her self be known to listeners." As NPR producer and editor Deborah George writes, Stamberg has "trained hundreds in our craft... to work on a story with Susan is an education in how to think radio."

Beyond affecting her colleagues, Stamberg's work has also impacted countless listeners who identify with her conversational style and value her superb interviewing skills. Emily Botein, a producer for WNYC in New York, notes that "Susan Stamberg reminds us -- as listeners and producers -- to be present, to listen for what might come."

Listen to Stamberg's acceptance speech from the Third Coast's 2004 Awards Ceremony in the player above.