Remembering Mark Manelli, news announcer and first host of STLPR’s ‘St. Louis on the Air’

Mark Manelli, the first host and producer of St. Louis Public Radio's flagship talk show "St. Louis on the Air," died last Wednesday, July 29, 2026. He was 72 years old.

Manelli hosted and produced "St. Louis on the Air" from its inception in September 1996 until November 1999. He was a news producer before his time on "St. Louis on the Air," and was STLPR's "Morning Edition" news anchor after that. He also won the station's first national Edward R. Murrow award in the Sports Reporting category for a news feature on the relationship between an LPGA golfer and her caddy.

Mark attended Chaminade High School and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He pursued a number of occupations during his adult life, but his favorite part, according to family, was being a journalist and talk show host at his local NPR affiliate.

Radio especially gave him the opportunity to feed his curiosity and interest in people from all walks of life. His Murrow Award was among his proudest achievements.

"Mark really established a solid foundation for what was to come over the next 30 years with the talk show," said longtime and now retired 'St. Louis on the Air' executive producer Mary Edwards. He presented a wide array of interesting guests and topics and was especially adept at handling listener calls which were an important component of the program in those early days. One show in particular stands out in my memory when a listener sought advice on how to help from afar to prevent his brother from taking his own life. The guest outlined the steps he could take and Mark firmly but calmly led the caller to promise to follow through on that advice. I always wondered if the show saved a life that day."

Former KWMU news director Lester Graham remembers Mark as a very talented reporter. "It was his ingenious use of remote microphones to record the interactions of an LPGA golfer and her caddy that led to the Murrow award," said Graham.