Beloved NPR Host Has Passed Away At 84

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Candles for Suki Lahav.

Listeners of NPR are mourning the passing of veteran broadcaster Noah Adams. The longtime host of “All Things Considered,” Adams was 84 years old.

His wife, Neenah Ellis, confirmed the sad news of his passing to NPR.

‘All Things Considered’

Adams’ gift for storytelling shone through during his 18-year tenure as host of NPR’s “All Things Considered.” He first began hosting the radio show in 1982, and remained host until exiting in 1987. He returned in 1989, and hosted until 2002.

“He was always observing,” “All Things Considered” producer Melissa Block told NPR.

“He would have a little reporter’s notebook and he would be taking notes in shorthand,” she added. “His writing is almost illegible — it would just be the vaguest sketches of things. But somehow, when we came back, he would capture the character of a place or a person or a town in the most vivid, rich, simple language. It was a complete picture based on his unbelievable powers of observation.”

Adams’ innate curiosity continually drove him to delve deeper. “You would pay attention to all the mysteries out in the world,” Adams recalled in a retrospective essay he wrote for NPR about his career. “You’d have a deep curiosity about the yearning. You’d notice who was in trouble, why? What does Washington mean?”

As Block pointed out, Adams tended to avoid politicians and spokespeople, instead seeking the unvarnished opinions of real people.

“He never liked talking to people who he knew had pre-programmed things to say,” said Block. “He wanted people who were genuinely speaking from their heart and with conviction and sincerity. And that’s how he was. That’s how he approached things.”

His Influence Continues

Among those to work with Adams on “All Things Considered” was Ira Glass, who would go on to his own degree of fame with “This American Life.”

As Glass recalled, Adams prepared to interview an eight-year-old girl about her parents’ painful divorce by talking about dogs, a tactic that stuck with Glass, who was working with Adams at the time as a rookie producer.

“It’s the fastest, most efficient warm up of a child,” Glass remembered. “He’s not talking down to her. And then he just launches into the interview.”

As he grew into his own success, Glass never hesitated to give credit to Adams for influencing his own approach to storytelling.

“You know, he was paired with [co-host] Susan Stamberg,” Glass recalled. “And Susan Stamberg’s character on the air, as the host of ‘All Things Considered, ‘ was this warm, mensch-y, chatty New York lady. And he was this sort of cool, traditional broadcaster next to her.”

In addition to his career as a broadcaster, Adams also wrote several books, such as “Piano Lessons” (1996), a memoir about spending a year learning how to play the piano when he was 51 years of age. Other books included “Far Appalachia,” “Following the New River North” (2001), and “The Flyers: In Search of Wilbur & Orville Wright” (2003).

Joining NPR at a time when the public broadcaster was still finding its voice, Adams played a major role in shaping that voice.

“To really capture the character of the country and the voices of everyone in their own style, in their own perspective, from their own perspective, and to pay attention to things that were outside of the centers of power,” said Block of Adams’ goals.