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Farewell From Host Liane Hansen

Liane Hansen hosted <em>Weekend Edition Sunday</em> for 22 years.
Doby Photography
Liane Hansen hosted Weekend Edition Sunday for 22 years.

I've never been any good at goodbyes. They are awkward at best, or they are too sad to contemplate. So, instead, as I hang up my headphones today, I'd prefer to say thank you.

Thank you to my family, who put up with my working on their days off, and who loved me unconditionally.

Thank you to my colleagues, who sometimes put the show together on a wing and a prayer; the editors who shoved me out of my comfort zone; the reporters who risked their lives and never minded an early morning call to appear on the program. And to all those whose names you never hear on the air, from the executive suite to the loading dock.

Thank you to the station managers who kept the faith and to anyone ever had to work on Sundays with me.

Thank you to everyone I've had the pleasure to interview — those who revealed themselves in ways I could not have imagined, those who taught me something new, even those who were often stingy with their answers to my questions.

And a final thank you to you. Those of you who have been with me from the beginning...and who just joined us — those who have been sending cards and letters to say what our Sunday mornings have meant to them. To those who weren't afraid to tell me what I did wrong and those who were generous with their praise.

So, instead of goodbye, I'll end with the words of Dame Vera Lynn: We'll meet again; don't know where, don't know when; but I know we'll meet again some sunny day.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Liane Hansen has been the host of NPR's award-winning Weekend Edition Sunday for 20 years. She brings to her position an extensive background in broadcast journalism, including work as a radio producer, reporter, and on-air host at both the local and national level. The program has covered such breaking news stories as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the capture of Saddam Hussein, the deaths of Princess Diana and John F. Kennedy, Jr., and the Columbia shuttle tragedy. In 2004, Liane was granted an exclusive interview with former weapons inspector David Kay prior to his report on the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The show also won the James Beard award for best radio program on food for a report on SPAM.