Veteran broadcaster Alistair Cooke dies

Legendary broadcaster Alistair Cooke, best known for his long-running radio series "Letter from America," has died at the age of 95.

A spokesman for the BBC said yesterday that Mr Cooke, who was credited with improving transatlantic understanding for more than half a century, died at his home in New York.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair paid warm tribute to Mr Cooke. "He was really one of the greatest broadcasters of all time," he said.

"I was a big fan. I thought they were extraordinary essays. They brought an enormous amount of insight and understanding to world. We shall feel his loss very very keenly indeed."

Mr Cooke retired from the BBC in March after 58 years of Letter from America.

He said he had decided to quit the show - the world's longest-running speech radio programme - due to ill-health and on advice from his doctors.

In a statement when he left, Cooke said he had thoroughly enjoyed his 58 years on the airwaves and hoped some of the enjoyment had passed over to the listeners "to all of whom I now say thank you for your loyalty and goodbye."

Mr Cooke - a Briton who became an American citizen in 1941 - first went to the United States in 1932 to study drama at Yale University on a Commonwealth Fund fellowship.

He was best known to many Americans for his show "Omnibus", which changed the face of US television in the 1950s and for presenting "Masterpiece Theatre" on public television.

He was even gently spoofed on the famous children's show "Sesame Street" as "Alistair Cookie".

Mr Cooke joined the BBC in 1934 as a film critic and began reporting three years later.

Letter from America began in 1946, when Mr Cooke was asked to give a weekly snapshot of life in America. During the following six decades, he provided listeners with insightful reports of the country's cultural and political affairs.

As a result of the programme's huge success, he became known in America as the man who explained all things British, and in Britain as the man who explained all things American.

Born in Salford, northern England, in 1908, Mr Cooke spent his last years living with his second wife in New York.