For those of us who work in the radio industry, we all recognize Paul Harvey as a radio icon. And, we were all saddened by his recent passing at the age of 90.
Paul Harvey had a long and distinguished career in radio. He started working at KVOO in Tulsa, OK at the early age of 14. While attending the University of Tulsa, he continued working at KVOO, first as an announcer, and later as a program director.
Harvey’s big break came when he moved to Chicago in June of 1944 where he began broadcasting from the ABC affiliate WENR. He quickly became the most popular newscaster in Chicago. In 1945, he began hosting the postwar employment program Jobs for G.I. Joe on WENR. Harvey added The Rest of the Story as a tagline to in-depth feature stories in 1946. The spots became their own series in 1976. On April 1, 1951 the ABC Radio Network debuted Paul Harvey News and Comment “Commentary and analysis of Paul Harvey each weekday at 12 Noon”. Paul Harvey was also heard originally on Sundays; the first Sunday program was Harvey’s introduction. Later, the Sunday program would move to Saturdays. The program continued until his death.
On May 10, 1976, ABC Radio Networks premiered The Rest of the Story as a separate series which provided endless surprises as Harvey dug into stories behind the stories of famous events and people. Harvey’s son, a concert pianist, created and produced the series. He was the show’s only writer.
Harvey was known for catch phrases he used at the beginning of his programs, such as “Hello Americans, I’m Paul Harvey. You know what the news is, in a minute, you’re going to hear … the rest of the story.” He always ended, “Paul Harvey … Good day.” A story might be “This day’s news of most lasting significance.” At the end of a report about someone who had done something ridiculous or offensive, Harvey would say, “He would want us to mention his name,” followed by silence, then would start the next item. The last item of a broadcast, which was often a funny story, would usually be preceded by “For what it’s worth.”
Harvey died on February 28, 2009, at the age of 90 after being taken to a hospital in Phoenix. He died while surrounded by family and friends. His son, Paul Harvey Jr., said “millions have lost a friend” in response to his father’s death.
