Radio veteran Cooke is dead

Broadcaster Alistair Cooke has died at the age of 95, the BBC said today.

Cooke made his name with his weekly Letter from America, broadcast on BBC radio, which ran for more than half a century.

Earlier this month, it was announced that Cooke would retire, heralding the end of the much-loved Radio 4 programme, and bringing with it a flood of tributes from colleagues and admirers on both sides of the Atlantic.