I certainly didn’t agree with much of Paul Harvey’s political philosophy (although I was very surprised to read a New York Times article which said that he supported abortion rights), but the guy was a one-of-a-kind broadcaster, the last of an era.
In particular, he had an amazing ability to read a spot (many of which, according to the Times story were ad-libbed). I’m sure his advertisers considered their Paul Harvey ad money well-spent.
No one has ever sounded quite like Paul Harvey and I suspect no one ever will…and that kind of uniqueness equals stardom in broadcasting.
A part of all of us went with him, and a big part of the radio business. I used to love his Rest of the Story reports. Those are timeless and could be run for years to come if someone wanted to.
I remember his sense of humor and his graciousness. One of the engineers at station in Seattle decided to extend the ending of his show “This is Paul Harvey…good day.” The “good day” ways always held a little to end the show on time. The engineer added a few seconds every few days until we were up to :38 or so seconds of dead air.
Harvey found out and could have raised holy hell, but called and simply asked graciously that we stop it. He even made a point that no one was to be fired, since it was all in good fun.
As a 30 something who grew up as a radio junkie, Paul Harvey was one of the first voices who really made an impact on me. His delivery was what I thought all news should sound like.
There will never be another like him. His style was his own and he was an original. While volumes could be written….and will be in retrospect, we have all lost a part of the soul that makes this media special….and now the rest of my story…
About 20 years ago while in college, at my fraternity house, we were eating lunch and listening to Paul Harvey News….It was somewhat of an unwritten ritual…. If memory serves me correctly in was aired on Z-fun-106 KZFN…which was CHR, but ths is Idaho and that’s another story…anyway…
One of the guys was from Bellevue Washinton and was already in the middle of a cultural shock adjusting to everything else that makes this state so interesting….was apparently hearing PH for the first time ever….when he asked..in a laughing way…”Who is this guy….?!”
While of course you had to be there…to get the jest of it….It was there that for the first time I realized that not everyone grew up with him, his style and his contribution to our simple rural values and slower view of the world… What a shock it must have been for this guy to realize that someone as down to earth and with such basic values still had a place in this fast paced world and was so extremely popular….For you see this person came from quite a bit of money and a “sophisticated” world. For both of us it was an eye opening experience.
It will not be the same. Radio is still a personal media for the most part. Paul Harvey influenced a great many folks and generated a great deal of money for ABC as well over the years.
A spokesman for small town America has said farewell for the last time. Part of the personal part of radio is gone. Perhaps waiting in the wings is someone who can approach him but only time will tell.
Regardles if you agreed with him or not on his views…we have all been fortunate to have experienced his unique programs.
I’ve always been a huge fan of Paul’s work and successes. Although I never was able to meet him personally, a friend of mine at KGO – San Fransico, Greg Jarrett (who coincidentally was just cut loose after 20+ years there) knew Paul quite well. On Paul’s 75th (I believe) birthday, Greg took Paul on a tandem skydive. What a character! One of a kind…
I’ve heard in some circles that Paul Harvey could be on the air well after his death. With the recordings of his reports and digital editing, someone could make Mr. Harvey LIVE daily.
I’m pretty sure Paul had said every word in the English language at least once on tape. Maybe twice. That’s a lot of time spent broadcasting.
I certainly didn’t agree with much of Paul Harvey’s political philosophy (although I was very surprised to read a New York Times article which said that he supported abortion rights), but the guy was a one-of-a-kind broadcaster, the last of an era.
In particular, he had an amazing ability to read a spot (many of which, according to the Times story were ad-libbed). I’m sure his advertisers considered their Paul Harvey ad money well-spent.
No one has ever sounded quite like Paul Harvey and I suspect no one ever will…and that kind of uniqueness equals stardom in broadcasting.
A part of all of us went with him, and a big part of the radio business. I used to love his Rest of the Story reports. Those are timeless and could be run for years to come if someone wanted to.
I remember his sense of humor and his graciousness. One of the engineers at station in Seattle decided to extend the ending of his show “This is Paul Harvey…good day.” The “good day” ways always held a little to end the show on time. The engineer added a few seconds every few days until we were up to :38 or so seconds of dead air.
Harvey found out and could have raised holy hell, but called and simply asked graciously that we stop it. He even made a point that no one was to be fired, since it was all in good fun.
As a 30 something who grew up as a radio junkie, Paul Harvey was one of the first voices who really made an impact on me. His delivery was what I thought all news should sound like.
There will never be another like him. His style was his own and he was an original. While volumes could be written….and will be in retrospect, we have all lost a part of the soul that makes this media special….and now the rest of my story…
About 20 years ago while in college, at my fraternity house, we were eating lunch and listening to Paul Harvey News….It was somewhat of an unwritten ritual…. If memory serves me correctly in was aired on Z-fun-106 KZFN…which was CHR, but ths is Idaho and that’s another story…anyway…
One of the guys was from Bellevue Washinton and was already in the middle of a cultural shock adjusting to everything else that makes this state so interesting….was apparently hearing PH for the first time ever….when he asked..in a laughing way…”Who is this guy….?!”
While of course you had to be there…to get the jest of it….It was there that for the first time I realized that not everyone grew up with him, his style and his contribution to our simple rural values and slower view of the world… What a shock it must have been for this guy to realize that someone as down to earth and with such basic values still had a place in this fast paced world and was so extremely popular….For you see this person came from quite a bit of money and a “sophisticated” world. For both of us it was an eye opening experience.
It will not be the same. Radio is still a personal media for the most part. Paul Harvey influenced a great many folks and generated a great deal of money for ABC as well over the years.
A spokesman for small town America has said farewell for the last time. Part of the personal part of radio is gone. Perhaps waiting in the wings is someone who can approach him but only time will tell.
Regardles if you agreed with him or not on his views…we have all been fortunate to have experienced his unique programs.
Good Day!
I’ve always been a huge fan of Paul’s work and successes. Although I never was able to meet him personally, a friend of mine at KGO – San Fransico, Greg Jarrett (who coincidentally was just cut loose after 20+ years there) knew Paul quite well. On Paul’s 75th (I believe) birthday, Greg took Paul on a tandem skydive. What a character! One of a kind…
I’ve heard in some circles that Paul Harvey could be on the air well after his death. With the recordings of his reports and digital editing, someone could make Mr. Harvey LIVE daily.
I’m pretty sure Paul had said every word in the English language at least once on tape. Maybe twice. That’s a lot of time spent broadcasting.