Since her first day at NPR on April 5, 1971, Susan Stamberg has been doing what she loves: "catching stories with my microphone -- a magic wand, waved against silence."

She's also been collecting milestones: first woman to anchor a national nightly news program (All Things Considered, for 14 years). Winner of every major award in broadcasting. A book author, a TV commentator -- even a punchline in a New Yorker cartoon.

Until she heard it on Morning Edition, Susan didn't know colleagues would be toasting her 30th anniversary. Or, if she did get wind of the surprise, she didn't say a word. Listen to the Morning Edition segment.

Happily, such silence from her is the exception. "The goal, always, is talk," Susan once wrote. "The voice gives life ... It wraps you in the aura of a person, starts pictures in the mind, makes connections to the heart."

Join Susan's colleagues and fans in celebrating her three decades on NPR.