^{Andy Barrie wakes up fellow campers at his first hosting job at summer camp. Photo via P.O.V.}

This morning Andy Barrie announced that he will be retiring from Metro Morning.

The host of the CBC radio’s Toronto morning show said on the air today he will be relinquishing the chair after 15 years.

“Andy is part of our station and that station is like an extended family,” said Susan Marjetti, Managing Director CBC Toronto. “He will continue to be part of that family and certainly part of this station’s rich history.”

^{The crew assemble after Andy Barrie announced his retirement this morning. Photo via metaviews.}

Barrie told the Globe and Mail that there “has been a lot of stress these last three years.” Barrie has fighting a public battle with Parkinson’s Disease since 2007. At the time he said he hoped to continue “waking you up every morning, as long as my old bod allows me to keep answering that 4 a.m. wake up call.”

But he admitted last week that the daily grind of hosting daily radio show was wearing him down. “Fifteen years is more than anybody’s held this job. A guy’s got just so much stamina,” he said to the CBC.

Hosting a show like Metro Morning is a little like driving a high speed vehicle down a highway and occasionally I would feel myself veering off onto the shoulder or towards the centre line. Globe and Mail.

The same year he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, his only brother was killed in  a car accident in Russia. He was dealt another blow last February when his wife of 40 years died of cancer.

“It’s not mortality, it’s unpredictability,” he says quietly when asked what the last few years have taught him. “Life turns around in different directions for the better and for the worse.” Globe and Mail.

This morning Barrie said the “this is, for me, good news! This is my idea… this is what I’m really ready for.” The full script of his retirement announcement is here.

Barrie’s last show will be on March 1st.

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