Tom Magliozzi, the co-host of NPR’s Car Talk, has died at age 77, according to reports on Monday.
Magliozzi hosted Car Talk with his brother for decades before the show ended in 2012.
NPR broke the story Monday, saying he died of complications from Alzheimer’s Disease.
The show’s executive producer, Doug Berman, said on Monday that “I have the sad duty to report today that Tom Magliozzi, one of the hosts of Car Talk, passed away this morning due to complications of Alzheimer’s Disease.”
“Tom’s been such a dominant, positive personality amongst us for so long that all of us in the public radio family — and I include our millions of listeners — will find this news very difficult to receive,” he added.
Meanwhile, NPR’s Lynn Neary wrote: “The Magliozzi brothers grew up in a tough neighborhood of East Cambridge, in a close-knit Italian family. Tom was 12 years older, the beloved older brother to Ray. They liked to act like they were just a couple of regular guys who happened to be mechanics, but both of them graduated from MIT. After getting out of college, Tom went to work as an engineer.”