February 28 2009 by Mark Silva
Paul Harvey, a fixture of radio for more than a half-century who came to tell "the rest of the story'' behind the news with a global reach, has passed away, WGN-AM radio and Paul Harvey's own home-page on the Internet are reporting. He was 90.
Harvey, raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, started his radio career in 1933 at KVOO-AM in Tulsa while still in high school. He moved from Oklahoma to Kansas and on to St. Louis before going to Hawaii to cover the activities of the Navy fleet in the Pacific. "He was returning to the United States from that assignment when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor,'' his homepage tells us, and spent the next three years in the Army Air Corps.
In June 1944, he started broadcasting in Chicago with the ABC affiliate WENR-AM. "He quickly became the most listened-to newscaster in Chicago," his homepage tells us.
His coast-to-coast "News and Comment" with the ABC Radio Networks started in 1951. On May 10, 1976, he started a series entitled "The Rest of the Story", focusing on the stories behind the news.
He was "the largest one-man network in the world," he told us, with more than 1,200 radio stations and 400 Armed Forces Network stations that broadcast around the world, plus columns in 300 newspapers.
Paul Harvey receives the Medal of Freedom from President George Bush in 2005.
(CNN) -- Paul Harvey, the legendary radio host whose career sharing "the rest of the story" with listeners spanned more than 70 years, has died, according to ABC Radio Networks.
Known for his deliberate delivery and pregnant pauses, Harvey's broadcasts were heard on over 1,200 radio stations and 400 Armed Forces networks and his commentaries appeared in 300 newspapers, according to his Web site.
He had been hosting his radio shows part-time for much of the past year, after recovering from physical ailments including pneumonia and the death of his wife, Lynne "Angel" Harvey in May 2008.
"My father and mother created from thin air what one day became radio and television news," said Harvey's son, Paul Harvey Jr., in a written statement. "So, in the past year, an industry has lost its godparents and today millions have lost a friend."
Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Harvey began his radio career in 1933 at KVOO-AM there while he was still in high school, his Web site says. He helped clean the station and was eventually was allowed to fill in on air, reading news and commercials.
"Paul Harvey was one of the most gifted and beloved broadcasters in our nation's history," ABC Radio Networks President Jim Robinson said in a written statement. "As he delivered the news each day with his own unique style and commentary, his voice became a trusted friend in American households."
"And now you know ... The Rest of the Story"
Paul Harvey (with his wife Angel), the news commentator and talk-radio pioneer whose staccato style made him one of the nation's most familiar voices, died Saturday February 28th in Arizona, according to ABC Radio Networks.
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