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Cathy Wurzer

Parting thoughts: One of the best board ops in the biz

From left, Greg Magnuson, Bob Potter, Steph Curtis and Patti Rai Rudolf
Morning Edition staff, from left, Greg Magnuson, Bob Potter, Steph Curtis and Patti Rai Rudolph.
Steve Wunwood

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When you listen to a program like Morning Edition, it sounds pretty seamless doesn't it? The national hosts and stories are intertwined with regional hosts, like me, along with news and interviews. The flow is orchestrated by producers and one very important person: the audio engineer, or "board op."

One of the finest board ops I've ever worked with died recently. She didn't want a funeral or a written obituary, but we decided she deserved to be part of our parting thoughts series.

PattiRai Rudolph
PattiRai Rudolph
MPR Photo

PattiRai Rudolph died recently at the age of 63. PattiRai or "P-Rai," as she was called, worked at a lot of different stations doing a lot of different things — from dispatching news crews at KSTP-TV, to spinning records in Hibbing, to doing the news at MPR in Saint Paul.

She was with us at MPR from 1985 to 2009. A big chunk of that time included waking up in the dark hours of the morning to run the board for Morning Edition with former host, Loren Omoto.

I spoke with Loren about the first person he met at MPR, "P-Rai."

Click the audio player above to hear the story.