Harvey: Beloved Broadcaster

Radio's most familiar voice is gone

Paul Harvey, America's most beloved broadcaster has died.

For millions of Americans Paul Harvey was a trusted, homespun voice - a treasured daily visitor, a midday friend. Paul Harvey understood the lives, the concerns, the dreams and the innate goodness of ordinary Americans.

Paul Harvey spoke for flyover country -- the middle of the country that too many pass by; the small towns and forgotten places on the map; the out-of-the-way hamlets; the social clubs and churches and fire halls and PTA's and Boy Scout troops and Sunday school picnics. This was Paul Harvey's America.

In writing of his passage, Rupa Shenoy of the Associated Press calls Paul Harvey "a heartland icon" and President George W. Bush says "his commentary entertained, enlightened, and informed. Laura and I are pleased to have known this fine man, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family."

Tens of millions of people share this sentiment today.

When Paul Harvey took to the airwaves from Chicago each day on ABC Radio and said "Stand by for news" in his distinctive staccato style people knew they were about to get the real deal -- the direct, straightforward story as only Paul Harvey could tell it.

For more than 50 years his news broadcasts and commentaries were like mini-symphonies; sort of a modern-day version of Walt Whitman's "I Hear America Singing." For it was the simple and unexpected stories of everyday America that Paul Harvey searched out and treasured. In 2005 President Bush presented Harvey with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Harvey composed his twice-daily news commentaries from a downtown Chicago office near Lake Michigan.
Rising at 3:30 each morning, he ate a bowl of oatmeal, then combed the news wires and spoke with editors across the country in search of succinct tales of American life for his program.
At the peak of his career, Harvey reached more than 24 million listeners on more than 1,200 radio stations and charged $30,000 to give a speech. His syndicated column was carried by 300 newspapers. And he continued to broadcast over the ABC radio networks almost until the time of his death.

His unique feature "The Rest of the Story" started chronologically, with the person's identity revealed at the end. The stories were an attempt to capture "the heartbeats behind the headlines." Much of the research and writing was done by his son, Paul Jr.

Paul Harvey was one of the most gifted and beloved broadcasters in our nation's history," ABC Radio Networks President Jim Robinson said in a statement.

Harvey was born Paul Harvey Aurandt in Tulsa, Okla. His father, a police officer, was killed when he was a toddler. A high school teacher took note of his distinctive voice and launched him on a broadcast career.
While working at St. Louis radio station KXOK, he met Washington University graduate student Lynne Cooper. He proposed on their first date (she said "no") and always called her "Angel." They were married in 1940 and had a son, Paul Jr.
They worked closely together on his shows, and he often credited his success to her influence. She was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1997, seven years after her husband was. She died in May 2008.

Fame neither changed nor tainted Paul Harvey. He remained just as he was: a plainspoken, sometimes folksy, always engaging and forever proud and loyal American.

In a world of cheap imitations Paul Harvey was an authentic American original.

We shall not see his likes again.