Andy Barry
Andy Barrie has left the host's chair of Toronto's top-rated morning radio show.
Mr. Barrie said farewell to his Metro Morning listeners Thursday morning, thanking them along with colleagues from his long broadcasting career.
"I'll be back," he said. "I've got a new desk down the hall and around the corner at CBC and I'm going to be doing all sorts of things that I really look forward to and contributing to the future of the Corp., which means so much to me not only in my career but in becoming a Canadian."
Mr. Barrie, an American who moved to Canada in 1969 after he got drafted to Vietnam, sounded emotional shortly before he signed off, chiding newsreader Jill Dempsey to keep it together.
"Don't let your eyes brim, Jill."
"I'm trying not to," she said.
"We'll both lose it, he said, laughing.
"I know. I'm sorry, so sorry," she said, seemingly fighting back tears.
Matt Galloway, currently host of CBC Radio One's afternoon drive-home show, will move to Metro Morning on Monday. His first guest will be Mr. Barrie, who will continue to work for CBC behind the scenes.
Mr. Barrie announced he would retire on Feb. 1 after 15 years as host of Metro Morning. The veteran broadcaster has waged a public battle with Parkinson's Disease since 2007 and lost his wife of nearly 40 years in February, 2009.
In an interview Thursday on CBC Radio's The Current, Mr. Barrie said the degenerative nature of his disease factored into his decision to leave his post.
"One of the reasons I wanted to stop being on the radio is I would like not to age in place on a microphone, if you know what I mean. I don't want my voice to fade away so that people will on Tuesday say he sounded better yesterday and even better on Friday," he told host Anna Maria Tremonti.
However, Mr. Barrie said his daughter, who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was worried about him losing the stimulation his job provides. He said he hopes he has it "at least partially figured out".
"As you know, every time you sit down in that chair over there it's a new day presented to you. We're not Dilberts."
Jill Mahoney