Larry Meiller once commented on the appeal of his Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) call-in show by describing his connection with listeners: \u201cI think they look at me as an old friend.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That was in 1987.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nearly 40 years on, Meiller\u2019s relationship with his fans continues\u2009\u2014\u2009and they\u2019re not just old folks. This past winter, Meiller was dining with friends at Sardine in downtown Madison when a young waitress heard him speak.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re Larry Meiller!\u201d she said. \u201cIs it OK if I get my phone?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The waitress got her selfie, and Meiller\u2009\u2014\u2009who turns 82 this May\u2009\u2014\u2009banked another warm and humorous memory from his 59-year career in public radio, which will end with a final show on June 30.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s now called \u201cThe Larry Meiller Show,\u201d but he\u2019s been hosting guests and taking statewide listener calls around the noon hour on weekdays since 1978. Prior to that, Meiller did a daily half-hour farm show on WPR, which transitioned after three years to an hour-long show highlighting consumer topics. His enduring appeal is undeniable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/69e643860627f.image.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Larry Meiller, shown hosting a show in 1998.<\/p>\n
Photo By Rick Dahms<\/p>\n
\u201cLarry is kind of like your favorite uncle,\u201d says Jill Nadeau, the show\u2019s executive producer. \u201cHe\u2019s so friendly. I tell people he has a Ph.D., and they\u2019re like, \u2018What?\u2019 He comes across like a farm boy from Cottage Grove, which he is.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The call-in show was suggested by Jack Mitchell, a public radio legend who led WPR for two decades after a successful stint producing \u201cAll Things Considered\u201d at National Public Radio.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind of call-in show?\u201d Meiller asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThink about it and tell me tomorrow,\u201d Mitchell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Meiller\u2019s pitch was inspired by the Wisconsin Idea. He imagined sharing expert knowledge on a wide variety of topics\u2009\u2014\u2009health, pets, gardening, the outdoors and more\u2009\u2014\u2009and allowing listeners to tap into it with phone questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His first guests were University of Wisconsin veterinary science specialists. His first caller\u2009\u2014 \u201cGrace from Stevens Point\u201d\u2009\u2014\u2009asked how you could tell if your cat was male or female.\u00a0<\/p>\n
UW professor Richard Bristol\u2019s reply: \u201cJust pick up its tail.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Grace called so often they had to institute a limit: one call per person per week.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Grace rule,\u201d Meiller says, chuckling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was the grace of good timing that landed Meiller in radio in the first place.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After his Cottage Grove farm upbringing, Meiller attended Madison East High School and then University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison. He was interested in marketing and animal science.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I wanted to work in the marketing department at Oscar Mayer,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Meiller took a radio class his senior year at UW. The professor\u2009\u2014\u2009who hosted a daily half-hour farm program for public radio in connection with the Department of Agriculture Journalism (now Life Sciences Communication)\u2009\u2014\u2009took a leave of absence. Meiller was asked to fill in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In hindsight, it was life-changing, but several dominoes needed to fall. The professor was promoted and left the show to Meiller. Meiller went to graduate school, completing his Ph.D. in mass communications in 1975. He joined the faculty and kept doing the farm show.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t any good at it at first,\u201d Meiller says of his early radio hosting days. He sought counsel from WPR stalwarts Karl Schmidt and Ken Ohst, and that, Meiller says, \u201cmade all the difference.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once he started the call-in show, a public identity was established that would cover nearly half a century. But many listeners probably didn\u2019t realize that across those decades, Meiller also taught\u2009\u2014\u2009radio broadcasting, newswriting, communication theory\u2009\u2014\u2009and conducted research focused on community engagement. He served on dozens of campus committees and did eight years on the UW\u2013Madison Athletic Board.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When his audience listened, they felt a personal connection. He\u2019d get letters: \u201cI know you like to camp. I\u2019ve never been camping. Would you take me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He got calls at home, too (he was listed in the phone book): \u201cIt\u2019s my birthday. My friends bet me that I wouldn\u2019t call you on my birthday.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Regular studio guests, like Scott Craven of the UW\u2013Madison Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, became more than interview subjects. \u201cFamily friends,\u201d Meiller says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wisconsin authors were grateful that Meiller always read the books he had them on to discuss. Michael Perry recently wrote on Facebook about his first appearance on Meiller\u2019s show more than two decades ago. \u201c[He] greeted me like an old friend, then proceeded to make me feel like the wittiest person he\u2019d interviewed that year,\u201d wrote Perry, who is scheduled for a final show in June.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When \u201cCalling All Pets,\u201d a popular WPR show Meiller hosted with Patricia McConnell for almost 14 years, ended in 2008, McConnell wrote, \u201cHe makes it look easy to be on the radio.\u2009…\u2009He taught me so much, and I will forever be indebted.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
With retirement at hand, there will be numerous tributes\u2009\u2014\u2009\u201cLarry Meiller Day\u201d with the Madison Mallards is June 14\u2009\u2014\u2009and final on-air appearances with regulars like Perry.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/69e64383b1ccd.image.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Photo By Rick Dahms<\/p>\n
Meiller says he \u201cworried a bit\u201d about what not doing the show will be like after all this time. But he has volunteer opportunities lined up, Badgers season tickets, daughters living in three states to spend time with and renewed enthusiasm for golf after scoring his first hole-in-one last fall at Odana Hills Golf Course.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019s angered by what he calls \u201cthe assault\u201d on public media by the current administration in Washington, D.C. Budget concerns led WPR to end production of four shows in 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019m hopeful, too,\u201d Meiller says. He points to WPR\u2019s loyal audience, its \u201cramped up\u201d social media presence and new collaborations with PBS Wisconsin that bode well for the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll focus on Wisconsin,\u201d says the man who did just that, wonderfully well, for some 60 years.<\/p>\n
Doug Moe is a Madison writer and a former editor of Madison Magazine. Find more by Moe in his web-exclusive blog at madisonmagazine.com\/dougmoe<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u200bCOPYRIGHT 2026 BY MADISON MAGAZINE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.<\/p>\n