Paul Harvey, Legendary Radio Host, Dies at the Age of 90

Paul Harvey, the radio host whose career sharing "the rest of the story" with listeners over 70 years passed away at the age of 90.

Born Paul Harvey Aurandt in Tulsa, Oklahoma Harvey started his radio career in 1933 while in high school. He cleaned the station and eventually was allowed to fill in reading news and commercials. He worked for the ABC network. He broadcasted News and Comment on weekday mornings and mid-days and at 12:00p.m. In 1976 ABC premiered The Rest of the Story. Harvey dug into stories behind the stories of famous events and people.

Harvey's son, a concert pianist, created and produced the series. PaulAurandt, Jr. is now the show's only writer.

In 1990 he was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame. President Bush awarded Harvey with the Medal of Freedom in 2005. In 2000, Harvey signed a 10-year, $100 million contract with ABC. In 2001 he had to go off air for awhile due to a weakened vocal chord caused by a virus.

Harvey's broadcasts were heard on over 1,000 radio stations and 400 Armed Forces networks. His commentaries were shared in 300 newspapers. His broadcasts and newspaper columns have been reprinted in the Congressional Record more than those of any other commentator.

His dramatic pauses and folksiness are probably what people will remember as well as his ability to go from reading the news to reading a commercial smoothly.

He died in Phoenix, Arizona the location of his winter home with his family members by his side.He lost his wife, Lynne "Angel" Harvey in May 2008. In 2007, Harvey told his radio audience that Lynne had leukemia. She was 92 at the time of her death. for the last year of his life he had been doing his radio shows part-time while recovering from pneumonia and the loss of his wife. The cause of Paul Harvey's death is not known at this time at least by me.

Sources

Paul Harvey.com
CNN