Former BBC regional news presenter Harry Gration has died at the age of 71.
The station became a Yorkshire institution after leading the BBC’s Look North program between 1982 and 2020 in a career spanning more than 40 years.
The BBC said he died suddenly on Friday. Its general manager, Tim Davie, said Gration was “loved everywhere, but especially in Yorkshire”.
He added: “Harry Gration MBE was an outstanding announcer and commentator. He had a real connection to the audience who saw him as one of his own. He will be greatly missed by his many fans and friends. Our thoughts are with his family. at this difficult time “.
Jason Horton, acting director of BBC England, described Gration as “one of the true greats of broadcasting”.
“He was a natural man on television and radio, adored by our audience, especially as the trusted face of Look North and South Today,” he added.
“She loved the news, the sport, her colleagues and the fundraising for Children in Need and Comic Relief. Our thoughts are with her family, her friends and everyone on the BBC with whom she goes to work”.
Gration, born in Bradford, joined the BBC in 1978 after working as a history teacher, and joined Look North in 1982, although he left for a period working at BBC South Today in the 1990s. .
He covered nine Olympic Games for the BBC and won two Royal Television Society (RTS) awards for his sports documentaries: White Rose In Africa in 1992 and Dickie Bird: A Rare Species in 1997.
And he won the RTS award for best presenter twice. He was appointed MBE by Broadcasting Services in 2013.
In statements after it was announced he would leave the BBC in 2020, Gration said: “I have interviewed all prime ministers since Margaret Thatcher, I have covered all the important stories of Look North even at the expense of my holiday, and nothing would have changed.
“I have always lived history. Horrible events like the devastating news of Jo Cox’s death, the disastrous floods of recent times, the riots in Bradford, Hillsborough, have always affected me. They were always an assault on my county.
“Highlights include raising more than £ 800,000 in tandem, pushing a couch and being tied to [BBC weatherman] Pau [Hudson]: three challenges that my body will never forget. ”
In 2019, Gration became a father again at age 68, when his wife, Helen, gave birth to their sixth child.