BBC Radio Oxford pays tribute to broadcaster Bill Heine

Former colleagues and current staff at BBC Radio Oxford have paid tribute to broadcaster Bill Heine, whose death was announced on Wednesday morning.

Editor of BBC Radio Oxford, Tim Boswell told RadioToday: “Bill was an integral part of BBC Radio Oxford for over 30 years. He was an outstanding broadcaster with the ability to connect with his listeners through his intelligence, razor-sharp wit, and above all, his passion for the city and the people who live, work and study here.

“We are paying tribute to Bill throughout the coming days and there was a special programme on BBC Radio Oxford on Wednesday from 6:00pm-7:00pm.”

Bill hit the headlines himself locally in 1986 when he put a giant shark on the roof of his terraced house in Oxford.

He wrote this article just last week with the headline “I’m ready to die in my own bed” after being unable to test a possible cure for cancer drug. He was 74.

Will Banks, Assistant Editor of BBC Radio Oxford, who worked with Bill for many years, said: “There was a fearless quality to Bill, which allowed him to explore the areas and ask the questions that others simply wouldn’t. He could incite genuine fear in those who were due a grilling, and in his producers who never knew where he was going to go next.

“But it was that unpredictability that defined Bill – a true one-off who refused to abide by convention and whose broadcasts were all the better for it.”


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Posted on Thursday, April 4th, 2019 at 10:10 am by Lee Price

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