I still remember the first time I heard Paul Harvey. I was working as a board operator at a local AM radio station in Provo, Utah.
There was something about his voice and the way he delivered the afternoon news and commentary. And I couldn’t resist the radio mystery of The Rest of the Story. The morning program was like an Agatha Christie murder mystery novel, but on the radio–always intriguing and exciting…a real who done it!
When the local ABC affiliate in Phoenix dropped Paul Harvey from their program schedule, I felt a sense of loss for that of an old friend. I missed hearing his voice on the radio, that folksy charm and his professions of undying love for his wife, Lynne, who he lovingly called “Angel”; the seamless transition from content to commercial–the man could pitch most any product convincingly.
Today, I again feel a sense of loss as I say again say goodbye to Paul Harvey, who died February 28, 2009 at the age of 90.
Paul Harvey lived a rich and colorful life, which I will not recount here. (Click here for more on Paul Harvey’s life and bio.) Sufficient to say, he was the oldest syndicated radio personality in America and I was one of his biggest fans.
I will miss the days when I sat in the control room at KSRR radio in Provo and played Paul Harvey’s radio shows over the air.
And, for one final time, hear his gentle voice exclaim, “Paul Harvey…good day!”
Thank you Brian for posting this tribute. I remember *The Rest of the Story* segments from when I think I was in high school until just lately. God Bless Paul Harvey. He will be missed.
I enjoyed listening to his broadcasts every day as a kid. I will miss him too. But part of me now wonders if he paved the way for people like Rush Limbaugh.
I haven’t listened to him (or much of talk radio [cringe]) in years, but I have fond memories of eating lunch on the lawn at college, listening to my small AM/FM radio with headphones, with Paul Harvey coming on at 11:50 every weekday morning.
Rest in peace.
After you get used to podcasts talk radio seems so lame.
Still, Paul Harvey was an oft impersonated icon.
I will always love Paul Harvey. He had a soft spot for Mormons, if not the Church, and a great heart. He will be good in front of God.
I too enjoyed Paul Harvey, except when he spoke at my BYU graduation in 1970. The man was really pretty shallow. He had a lot of folksy wisdom to share, but he really didn’t know much about anything on a deeper level. It is scary to think that so many of us based our understanding of politics and the world on the thoughts of Harvey and other broadcasters who have really never done anything else in their lives.
@John
You seem to place a burden on Paul Harvey that does not and should not exist. If people choose one person as their sole source for news and information, then it is not the broadcaster’s fault for the lack of deeper understanding, but rather the listener’s.
Moreover, don’t assume too much about what you think you know about Paul Harvey’s knowledge or understanding based on one speech. I think his success speaks volumes about the man.
I moved around a lot when I was a kid and listening to Paul Harvey was one of the constants. Since I haven’t been in a car much in the past decade, I’ve lost the habit, but I heard him a couple of times recently and marvelled that he was still around after so many years. Here’s a good tribute that sums up many feelings I share:
http://www.artsjournal.com/aboutlastnight/2009/03/tt_paul_harvey_rip.html
@Bill
Thanks for the link. I was watching/listening to Paul Harvey on some YouTube videos the day he died.
Radio is a dying medium and the loss of Paul Harvey seems like just another nail in the coffin. He will be missed by all.
Actually, the latest surveys indicate that radio is a medium on the rise, with increasing numbers of listeners.
I will always remember the day Paul Harvey visited the Ricks College campus in February 1970. He gave a short speech, and then took questions from the standing room only audience for the next hour. A few days later, in his national radio broadcast he commented about his visit to Ricks: “Idaho potatoes grow profusely, but with careful tending, and young people thereabouts grow-up with careful tending on the wide hill top campus of Ricks College. Ricks is a Mormon college, a handsome complex of buildings, functional, beautiful inside and out…The clear eyed confidence which used to characterize most American young pople is still apparent behind their (Ricks students) wide open eyes, as exuberant in their fun time as they are reverent in their prayers.”