Cooke signs off his Last Letter from America

Alistair Cooke's voice has become one of the most recognisable on the airwaves. But after 58 years, he has dispatched his last Letter From America.

Cooke, acknowledged as one of the world's greatest broadcasters, has signed off from his BBC Radio 4 show at the age of 95.

The quintessential Englishman abroad is retiring after 2,869 of his weekly reports for BBC Radio 4 about "anything and everything" in the USA. His retirement on doctor's advice marks 70 years at the BBC.

He said today: "Throughout 58 years I have had much enjoyment in doing these talks and hope that some of it has passed over to the listeners, to all of whom I now say thank you for your loyalty and goodbye."

Cooke was off air last week due to illness. Radio 4 will air archive shows over the next several weeks.

The legendary broadcaster joined the BBC after Cambridge University in 1934 as a film critic and soon settled in the US. He began Letter From America, his personal report from the US, in 1946. It is the world's longest-running speech radio programme, heard by millions each week.

Cooke has written his letter every Thursday on a typewriter in his flat overlooking Central Park. In 58 years, he recorded 2,869 broadcasts - missing just three.

Over the years, he has brought his unique wisdom to bear on American news events, including an eyewitness report of the killing of Robert Kennedy, the Vietnam war, more than a dozen presidental elections and the recent war in Iraq.

The letters have a global audience as they are broadcast on the World Service as well as domestic radio.

Mark Byford, acting BBC director-general, said: "Alistair Cooke has been one of the greatest broadcasters ever, full of insight and wisdom. He has brought enormous pleasure to millions of listeners both in the United Kingdom and around the world. We all thank him for his unparalleled contribution."

Jenny Abramsky, BBC director of radio and music, added: "All my life Alistair Cooke has been my guide to understanding the USA and the momentous events that have shaped that country."

Cooke summed up his own feelings when he said: "No pleasure in work well done, in a lifetime of journalism, can compare with the evidence that comes in by mail that you have done a talk that touched the hearts and minds of a bus driver in Dorset, a Canberra judge, a student in Bombay, a housewife in Yorkshire, a space scientist in Sri Lanka, a high school teacher in Beijing or a nurse in Libya."

In 1973, Cooke - an American citizen - was awarded an honorary knighthood and in 1974 he addressed the United States Congress on its 200th anniversary. Cooke was of humble origins, born in Salford in 1908 and christened Alfred. He added Alistair at 22.