Veteran newscaster John Wanamaker is leaving MPR

John Wanamaker, a familiar voice to Twin Cities radio listeners for the past two decades, is leaving the market. His last day at Minnesota Public Radio is Sept. 21.

The newscaster will become Iowa Public Radio's host for "All Things Considered," offering weather updates and local news during breaks from the national show.

Wanamaker has been a newscaster at MPR since 2010. He previously spent six years as a reporter and anchor at WCCO Radio.

"Minnesota has been very good and kind to me," he said Monday night in a phone interview. "I'm grateful for all I've experienced."

Wanamaker is relocating to the Des Moines area to help care for his parents-in-law. His wife has been spending 80 percent of her time in Iowa over the past two years.

In addition to working in the IPR studios, Wanamaker hopes to get in the field and do some reporting. When asked about some of the most memorable people he interviewed during his time in the Twin Cities, he ticked off an eclectic list that included presidential candidates, former Mexican President Vicente Fox and singer Roberta Flack.

He takes pride in being one of the first journalists on the scene of the I-35W bridge collapse over the Mississippi River in 2007 and his reporting on the Minnesota National Guard's Red Bulls Brigade returning from Iraq.

Wanamaker isn't expecting a big fuss over his departure.

"I was just planning on a very quiet exit," he said. "I don't view myself as a personality on the radio. I'm a more straightforward news guy."