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There is no more important quality for a newscaster than the ability to be trusted. Americans trusted Edward R. Murrow when he was bringing them live stories of the Blitz in London. They trusted Walter Winchell with his rapid fire, unrelenting delivery. They trusted Gabriel Heatter when he told him that "There's good news tonight". However, now one held America's trust as long or as deeply as Paul Harvey.
Harvey's broadcast career stretched from the Golden Age of Radio during the Second World War to the Internet age. Paul lost his father, a Tulsa, Oklahoma police detective who was killed in a shootout, when he was only three. As a youngster, he constructed radio receivers and got an after school job, sweeping floors at first, at the local radio station. One of Paul's teachers, who was impressed with the young man's voice, helped him to get the job which eventually led to on-air appearances.
While attending the University of Tulsa, Paul worked as an announcer and station manager at KVOO, later moving on to Salina, Kansas, Oklahoma City, and St. Louis. While working at KXOK, he met a school teacher named Lynn Cooper who was doing a school report. Paul invited Lynne to dinner and proposed to her after a few minutes of conversation. He gave her the nickname "Angel", and they were married a year later.
Angel was an important part of the team which put together Paul Harvey's News and Commentary. Many would say that Angel was in fact the brains behind Paul Harvey's success, she was the one who encouraged their move to Chicago in 1945 to be nearer the network studios.
In 1976, Angel began producing The Rest of the Story. Historical background, little known facts and "back story" were always an important part of Paul Harvey's broadcasts, but The Rest of the Story went beyond news reporting to almost pure entertainment. In most broadcasts an important element was held back until the end, usually the name of the story's subject. Lynne Harvey was the first producer to be inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.
During the later years of the program there were occasional substitute hosts for The Rest of the Story and News and Comment, most often Paul and Angel's son, Paul Harvey Jr., along with Doug Limerick, Gill Gross, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and others. After Paul Harvey passed away in 2009, Doug Limerick was named as the permanent host of The Rest of the Story, but the show folded after three weeks.
I remember listening to Paul Harvey every day at 12:15 as a kid with my Uncle Slug in my grandpa’s sheet mettle shop and drinking beer on our break. Great memories.
I always loved Paul Harvey! During Elem school, I always walked home from Sam Houston Elem School to hear his daily broadcasts [in Midland Tx (1954 - 1960)] One day, my Dad took me downtown to meet Mr. Harvey when he was broadcasting from the studios of KCRS! I was SO THRILLED! Still remember that meeting!
Brings back decades of his humor, wit and stories. What a unique voice and cadence. Enjoyable, thought-provoking, pro-American-values with a dose of how the world and country could be improved.
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