Terry Gross

In addition to all that, he was like the fresh air family therapist.

We all brought our problems to him, and he always did his best to help solve them, even when it meant more work for him, which it typically did.

He made a lot of personal sacrifices to keep things running as smoothly as possible, including working lots of nights and weekends over many years.

To me, Danny is more than a great executive producer.

I think of him as a brother, and I will continue to think of him that way now that he's leaving the show.

It's a strange time for me.

Danny became an intern in January 1978.

Just a few weeks later, I started seeing my future husband, Francis Davis.

Francis died in April, and now just a few months later, Danny is retiring.

That's a lot to process.

I won't get to see Danny and work with him every day, but that won't mean he's absent from my life.

I plan on scheduling many future dinners with him.

We at Fresh Air are also extraordinarily lucky that Sam Brigger is taking over as our executive producer, a role he'd already started while Danny stayed on to help with the transition.

I'm positive there is no one better in the world to take on the role.

Sam has been part of the Fresh Air team for about 21 years.

During those years, his first child was born.

That son is now in college.

Sam knows the show inside out, having worked as an associate producer, our book interview producer, and managing producer.

He's smart, funny, and a good musician.

He's wise and calm even when there's a crisis, and everyone on our show loves him.