KyDXIn said:
Legendary radio host Paul Harvey dies at 90
Updated: Feb 28, 2009 08:22 PM EST
New York - Legendary radio broadcaster Paul Harvey has died.
ABC News reported on its Web site around 8 p.m. Saturday that Harvey, whose famous voice filled the airwaves for more than 70 years, had passed away at the age of 90.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
I saw that "America's Funniest Home Videos" was going to be on so I turned it on to tape while I watched the Spike Lee movie "Girl 6".
Even before the top of the hour they were doing this tribute, one you would not see unless someone had died. My first thought was that "E. T." ran over. No, my ABC affiliate wouldn't bother to do anything but join it in progress, and they often pre-empt it. That was a news bulletin, as it turned out, and it was the news we sure didn't want to hear.
He had always come back from his extended vacations, and he didn't want to be gone. One of those times I thought he would really retire, but I'm so glad I didn't.
Back in the 70s I would sometimes hear him on my favorite music station. Occasionally, with my habit of turning on the radio and seeing what was on, I would find "The Rest of the Story". During the 90s I didn't have a full-time music station, but around lunchtime I would be able to find my music on the station where I have listened for the past two years. It was a treat to hear him.
I had jury duty one week and I heard him on the way to the courthouse on a station I listened to for music but wasn't quite happy with any more. I used to listen to Rush Limbaugh when in the car with my father, and this had two results. One, I heard the high from the previous day and the low that morning during a break. I later called the station to ask how I could hear that every day. It was part of the morning show, after Charles Osgood, who I found boring. At one point I remembered Paul Harvey was on at that time, so I changed stations and started waking up with Paul each morning. How long ago it was I don't remember, but I do remember how the day after the O.J. verdict he made sure a very minor story got top billing: "The day's news of most lasting significance may be this."
It was too complicated to listen to the noon show. I was usually not around a radio. I can't believe that I got frustrated with my favorite music station in 1997 for interrupting the music for a full 20 minutes. Now I wish I had just listened to HIM. But for the first time in years, I had a full-time music station. I wanted MUSIC.
Another time I was in the car with my father listening to Rush (we thought he was fun because he was such a blowhard), I remembered that the station I have listened to for Paul Harvey for two years was all-Christmas (instead of ESPN). So we changed and around 3, there was "The Rest of the Story". So from that day forward, if we were in the car at the end of Rush's show, that's what we listened to.
A few years later I was watching reruns of "Bewitched" and "I Dream of Jeannie". During the final commercial break, I remembered "The Rest of the Story".
On September 11, I had made the program a habit. I know because I went out to the car and listened, and it was on as usual. Somehow that was comforting. When I did this most days, of course, I always heard the theme music for "The Nasty Boys" of ESPN before the break. The new owner of the station changed to oldies and moved the show to 7:30 A.M. a few months later, and I set my clock radio to wake up an hour earlier (a few months later, I found out the afternoon show was at a new time, still around 3, because I just happened to be listening to the station). The 8:30 broadcast I heard in the kitchen on another clock radio. The other station where I had heard the morning broadcast (where the DJ always said when the other broadcast or broadcasts were on that day; it used to get on my nerves that the Saturday guy would sometimes say "More News and Comment" at noon) also moved "The Rest of the Story", to a time when I could listen more easily, so I set yet another clock radio. As long as there wasn't racing coverage, I didn't actually have to listen to the early morning broadcast.
I never listened at noon on Saturdays, but one day I was in the car just looking for something. I was mad at my grocery store and had driven elsewhere. Furthermore, one day Mr. Harvey said I absolutely had to hear him that Saturday. I got in the habit.
Then that station I had listened to since before O.J. was acquitted changed formats and added STEVE Harvey. Which is why I'm here. I wanted to rant and read other rants. But it turned out to be a good thing. No longer did I have to tolerate the likes of Big and Rich, Lonestar, Rascal Flatts and Montgomery Gentry if I left the kitchen radio on for the full two hours. I did that partly to keep from messing up and have that radio not come on. But this station also played George Jones and other legends. I discovered that the other station had Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole and Johnny Mathis as well as Elton John, Billy Joel and The Beatles. Good stuff! For "The Rest of the Story", which I now had to listen to at 3 or a 7:30 the next morning, I had a clock radio that cut itself off after 20 minutes. This is now valuable on Saturdays when I need to clean up. The afternoon movie often starts at 4. And I can listen to some good music. Actually, I often just leave the radio on after Mr. Harvey. All of this depends on there not being sports. Sadly, the owner of the station didn't believe me when I said there was a Saturday 8:30 broadcast. This, plus the fact the music wasn't that good from 2002 to 2006, was why I didn't listen to his station before. I haven't heard a Saturday 8:30 broadcast in over 2 years.
It's frustrating to listen at 7:30 if I'm out of range or not around a radio, or the station has sports. I hate to run down my car battery, and I did get a portable radio to bring along when an old car I had lost its radio to age. But that radio doesn't have the signal capability. Early morning reception is iffy, plus they sometimes forget to record the show for later. And once or twice the show didn't air at all for some reason. I sent numerous comments to the web site complaining that the "Rest of the Story" broadcasts were no longer there like "News and Comment". When they were, at one point it was only one, and the Friday broadcasts were the ones I most often missed due to racing--when I couldn't get to the computer before the Saturday one replaced it. Later, of course, I had to listen at 3 if I could. Maybe now they'll rebroadcast them.
I've kind of gotten accustomed to the substitutes. Ron Chapman has been my favorite. He likes the funny stories, which I have missed hearing if Paul Jr. did the morning broadcasts. But there's no one like the original. I'm not a conservative and I don't share his conservative values. But he did care about the environment, which conservatives aren't known for. And when you hear him say something you don't agree with ... well, he's too friendly for you to dislike it. You might even want to share such views.
