paul harvey…..good bye!
Paul Harvey, photographed in the Chicago Tribune photo studio in 2002. (Tribune photo by Chris Walker)
[audio:http://audioconnell.com/clientuploads/mp3/090301_PaulHarvey.MP3]
Click here to download.
During my travels and travails today, I saw the news on my phone of the death of legendary radio broadcaster Paul Harvey.
I’m heart sick for the loss of a broadcasting era with Paul’s passing.
Nobody wrote news copy like Paul Harvey. Nobody had the on-air delivery of Paul Harvey and rarely did anyone’s broadcast stop the scanning of the radio dial like Paul Harvey News and Comment. The cadence, the volume, the articulation and yes even the dramatic silence.
He was every true broadcaster’s joy to listen to including the famous “Rest of the Story” segments and even his live commercials. I never heard of Husqvarna Chain saws before I heard about them on Harvey’s broadcasts…the Bose Wave…Wal-Mart….I didn’t just today read about his sponsors….this list is just off the top of my head, so memorable were his spots for me. What other modern day national radio broadcaster made you remember a commercial like that?!
The broadcasts were old school, not in relation to the newsman’s age but rather to his style. And maybe that’s the thing that will be most missed – the style of the Paul Harvey broadcast and all that that involved.
He was the most listened to man in broadcasting – literally.
Most young people won’t get what Paul Harvey’s broadcasts meant to the fabric of America. They have their own ways to gather the news and that’s as it should be.
But his is an historic broadcasting passing that most won’t understand today but hopefully will as time passes and as history is considered. I’m pleased in an odd way that I’m ahead of the curve on this one…but what a sad curve it is to lead.
Thanks Paul and God bless your Angel too. Requiescat in pace.
