BOSTON — Gary LaPierre, a legendary Boston radio newsman who notably covered The Beatles, the Blizzard of ‘78 and the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks during a career that spanned four decades, has died.
LaPierre, a longtime news anchor and member of the WBZ Hall of Fame, passed away on Monday at his North Shore home surrounded by his family, after battling leukemia, according to WBZ NewsRadio. He was 76.
For nearly 44 years, LaPierre’s "calm and steady voice prepared New Englanders for the day ahead."
"He told adults the solemn truths of our world and delighted children by reading the name of their town during the WBZ Storm Center school closing reports," WBZ NewsRadio wrote on its website.
LaPierre began working in the mail room of WBZ in the 1960s. He worked as a general assignment reporter before moving into the anchor booth.
“I am deeply saddened by this news,” said Bill Flaherty, director of operations at WBZ NewsRadio. “If you were looking to work hard and also have lots of fun, Gary was the guy you need to be with. My heart goes out to his wife Peg and his family.”
Peter Casey, WBZ NewsRadio’s former program director who worked with LaPierre for two decades, remembered him as a man of heart and compassion.
“He was the perfect person to be the voice of WBZ and news radio for New England. His presence on the air, in the newsroom, and in our lives was huge," Casey said.
One of his first assignments for WBZ in the early 1960s saw LaPierre travel with The Beatles for a leg of their first U.S. tour. He was stuck at WBZ’s studios for five days broadcasting, at times by candlelight, throughout the Blizzard of ‘78. He traveled to Germany twice to cover the American hostage releases from Iran in the early 1980s, he was at every national political convention from 1968 to 2004, and he interviewed every president from Lyndon Johnson to George W. Bush. For a time, LaPierre also anchored television news broadcasts on WBZ-TV.
LaPierre was born in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts and graduated from Grahm Junior College and attended the University of New Hampshire and Boston University. He received an honorary doctorate from Emerson College in 1998.
Among his numerous achievements include LaPierre’s induction to the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame, Associated Press, Radio-Television News Director Association (RTNDA) Awards, the national 1998 Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Radio Newscast, and he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the March of Dimes Achievement in Radio Organization in 1997.
In 1986, he received the Gold Award for Best Newsman of the Year at the International Radio Festival in New York City.