--- title: ABC News Anchor Larry Stogner Announces ALS Diagnosis, Retires On Air description: After almost 40 years, Larry Stogner told viewers, "We have to stop meeting this way" canonical: https://time.com/3685884/larry-stogner-news-anchor-retires/ author: Laura Stampler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-28T16:20:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:16:19.310Z og:title: Local News Anchor Announces ALS Diagnosis and Retires in Touching Broadcast og:description: After almost 40 years, Larry Stogner told viewers, "We have to stop meeting this way" og:url: https://time.com/3685884/larry-stogner-news-anchor-retires/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Local News Anchor Announces ALS Diagnosis and Retires in Touching Broadcast twitter:description: After almost 40 years, Larry Stogner told viewers, "We have to stop meeting this way" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Local News Anchor Announces ALS Diagnosis and Retires in Touching Broadcast by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Jan 28, 2015 4:20 PM UTC by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Jan 28, 2015 4:20 PM UTC When longtime North Carolina news anchor Larry Stogner participated in the Ice Bucket Challenge last summer, he didn’t yet know that he was one of the 30,000 Americans who suffer from the neurological disease. “I am sure that in recent months, you’ve noticed a change in my voice, my speech slower,” the anchor at ABC affiliate WTVD said in a touching broadcast last Friday. “Many of you were kind enough to email me ideas about what it might be, or just to show concern, and I truly appreciate that. As it turns out, I have ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease.” After almost four decades reporting the news, Stogner announced his retirement, telling viewers, “We have to stop meeting this way.” After a vacation with his wife, Stogner will be back in two weeks to talk on-air with his colleagues and say a more formal goodbye. _Read next:_ [_Here’s What’s Happening With the Ice Bucket Challenge Money_](http://time.com/3556217/ice-bucket-challenge-als-money/?xid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3685884/larry-stogner-news-anchor-retires/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3685884/larry-stogner-news-anchor-retires/"},"headline":"Local News Anchor Announces ALS Diagnosis and Retires in Touching Broadcast","datePublished":"2015-01-28T16:20:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:16:19.310Z","description":"After almost 40 years, Larry Stogner told viewers, \"We have to stop meeting this way\"","url":"https://time.com/3685884/larry-stogner-news-anchor-retires/","keywords":["Newsfeed","society","viral","video","ALS"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3685884/larry-stogner-news-anchor-retires/","name":"Local News Anchor Announces ALS Diagnosis and Retires in Touching Broadcast"}}]}] ```