NPR's ''Most Wanted Man'' Jim Lesher Dies at 46

RADIO ONLINE | Wednesday, June 3, 2015 | 5:33pm CT

NPR Associate Editor for News Operations Jim Lesher died Wednesday morning at the age of 46, after a swift and debilitating battle with stomach cancer. For more than two decades Lesher worked tirelessly behind the scenes coordinating logistics so that NPR not only was heard, but sounded its very best. He was incredibly proud of his work, and he had good reason to be.

"Jim's value to this newsroom was so apparent that I once joked with him that I was going to make up a wanted poster with his photo: 'Jim Lesher: Most Wanted Man at NPR,'" said NPR Managing Editor Chuck Holmes.

"There is an entire news organization full of heavy and broken hearts," added NPR Executive Producer for Newscast Robert Garcia. "If the measure of a man is how much he is loved and appreciated by others, Jim was successful beyond his wildest dreams."

Lesher grew up in the Washington, DC, area and, according to his high school yearbook, "was a rocker, a roller and an out-of-controller." He joined NPR as an intern soon after graduating from Catholic University with a B.A. in English Literature, in 1990. He was known to regularly rock out to the 1970s rock band Queen.

He is survived by his mother Anne Lesher, his father James Lesher Sr., his sister Katherine Nash and two nephews Christopher and Sean, along with his extended family at NPR.