Funny what a person remembers when someone dies. With rare exceptions, I haven't listened to Paul Harvey in years even though he was one of the few who could make a newscast captivating.
When the radio icon died at age 90 on Saturday, it took me back to my teen years and work on a farm. My dad always listened to KGNC, primarily for the farm reports and the easy-listening music, but at noon he'd always turn it to KDJW -- at least I think it was KDJW -- to listen to 15 minutes of Paul Harvey's five-days-a-week newscast. He'd usually pick me up at noon to go eat and Harvey's newscast was always on.
I loved that guy. His "stand by for news!" was one of his trademarks and signaled an interesting 10 minutes or so as we drove into town to eat. Harvey was the king of the dramatic pauses. Just his "page 2" or "page 3" kind of whetted my appetite for more.
And, then, of course, there was his trademark ending, "Paul Harvey...good day."
If you ever heard one of his "rest of the stories" it had folks guessing about who he was talking about almost to the end. It was like a 2- or 3-minute mystery.
Harvey worked for more than 50 years for ABC radio, and was syndicated by 1,200 radio stations. His poliitcs were conservative, but his likability transcended political views. He was the kind of commentator that you just wished you could spend a day with.
He was truly one of the giants in radio.
When the radio icon died at age 90 on Saturday, it took me back to my teen years and work on a farm. My dad always listened to KGNC, primarily for the farm reports and the easy-listening music, but at noon he'd always turn it to KDJW -- at least I think it was KDJW -- to listen to 15 minutes of Paul Harvey's five-days-a-week newscast. He'd usually pick me up at noon to go eat and Harvey's newscast was always on.
I loved that guy. His "stand by for news!" was one of his trademarks and signaled an interesting 10 minutes or so as we drove into town to eat. Harvey was the king of the dramatic pauses. Just his "page 2" or "page 3" kind of whetted my appetite for more.
And, then, of course, there was his trademark ending, "Paul Harvey...good day."
If you ever heard one of his "rest of the stories" it had folks guessing about who he was talking about almost to the end. It was like a 2- or 3-minute mystery.
Harvey worked for more than 50 years for ABC radio, and was syndicated by 1,200 radio stations. His poliitcs were conservative, but his likability transcended political views. He was the kind of commentator that you just wished you could spend a day with.
He was truly one of the giants in radio.
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1 comment:
There are quite a few Paul Harvey clips on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRr9uYtIatY
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