William Blaine "Bill" Richardson III (born November 15, 1947) is the current Governor of New Mexico and was a candidate for the 2008 Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States. He has previously served as a U.S. Representative, Ambassador to the United Nations, and as the U.S. Secretary of Energy. He was chairman of the 2004 Democratic National Convention as well as Chairman of the Democratic Governors Association in 2005 and 2006, overseeing the Democrats' re-capturing of a majority of the country's governorships. Richardson has been recognized for negotiating the release of hostages, American servicemen, and political prisoners in North Korea, Iraq, and Cuba.
Bill Richardson is a Canadian radio broadcaster and author. Richardson was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1955 and received his B.A. from the University of Winnipeg in 1976. After spending a year in Montpellier, he moved to Vancouver, where he completed a Master of Library Science at the University of British Columbia.
Richardson has been a broadcaster on CBC Radio One, beginning in 1992 as a regular contributor and guest host on Vicki Gabereau's show. When Gabereau left to host a television show on CTV, Richardson moved over to CBC Radio Two to host As You Like It, a classical music request show. In 1997 he returned to CBC Radio One to become host of Richardson's Roundup.
He began hosting a new show, Bunny Watson, in 2004, and was replaced as host of The Roundup by Tetsuro Shigematsu. During the CBC staff lockout of 2005, he noted in the CBC Unplugged staff podcast that he has spent his entire time as a CBC host on contract, rather than as a permanent employee. CBC's labour troubles resulted in his return to the air via reruns of The Roundup.
Richardson's book Bachelor Brothers' Bed and Breakfast won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour in 1994. He has moderated CBC's Canada Reads since 2003. He is also a frequent guest host on Sounds Like Canada, as well as the current host of Saturday Afternoon at the Opera.
Richardson is openly gay.
