Paul Harvey, 90, a Chicago-based radio broadcaster whose authoritative baritone voice and distinctive staccato delivery attracted millions of daily listeners for more than half a century, died Feb. 28 in Phoenix.
A spokesman for ABC Radio Network told the Associatd Press that Mr. Harvey died at his winter home, surrounded by family. No cause of death was immediately available.
Mr. Harvey was the voice of the American heartland. Decades before devoted listeners tuned in to Rush Limbaugh, Howard Stern or Don Imus, an audience of some -- million at its peak --was tuned in mornings and at noon to Harvey's trademark greeting: “Hello Americans! This is Paul Harvey. Stand by! For news!"
On any given day his listeners were likely to include farmers inside the cabs of cultivators lumbering across Midwestern wheat fields, housewives going about their daily chores, over-the-road truck drivers pushing giant behemoths full throttle along America's interstate highways and millions of others for whom listening to Paul Harvey was as much a part of daily routine as the morning cup of coffee.
“Paul Harvey News and Comment" was a distinctive blend of rip-and-read headline news, quirky feature stories and, usually, a quick congratulation to a couple in Topeka or Omaha or Sarasota who had been married for 75 years or so. The news stories, and Harvey's distinctive take on them -- usually, but not always, from a conservative political perspective -- flowed seamlessly into commercial messages for products Mr. Harvey himself endorsed.
Perhaps the most effective radio pitchman in the history of the medium, his sponsors stayed with him for decades. Other potential sponsors lined up to buy time on the news and commentary segments or on “The Rest of the Story," mesmerizing little tales, cleverly written, that featured a surprising O Henry-style twist to stories listeners thought they already knew.
In 2001, ABC Radio Networks awarded Mr. Harvey, then 83, a 10-year, $100-million contract, a tribute not only to his gargantuan listening audience of some 22 million people but also to his uncanny ability to inspire trust in his listeners -- trust that the products he pitched, whether mattresses, nutritional supplements or Bose radios, were worth buying. Worth buying because Paul Harvey said so.
A 1985 survey found that the four most popular radio programs on the air nationally were, in descending order, “Paul Harvey News and Comment" on weekday mornings, “Paul Harvey News and Comment" weekdays at noon, the Saturday “Paul Harvey News and Comment" at noon on Saturday, and “The Rest of the Story" each weekday afternoon.
A spokesman for ABC Radio Network told the Associatd Press that Mr. Harvey died at his winter home, surrounded by family. No cause of death was immediately available.
Mr. Harvey was the voice of the American heartland. Decades before devoted listeners tuned in to Rush Limbaugh, Howard Stern or Don Imus, an audience of some -- million at its peak --was tuned in mornings and at noon to Harvey's trademark greeting: “Hello Americans! This is Paul Harvey. Stand by! For news!"
On any given day his listeners were likely to include farmers inside the cabs of cultivators lumbering across Midwestern wheat fields, housewives going about their daily chores, over-the-road truck drivers pushing giant behemoths full throttle along America's interstate highways and millions of others for whom listening to Paul Harvey was as much a part of daily routine as the morning cup of coffee.
“Paul Harvey News and Comment" was a distinctive blend of rip-and-read headline news, quirky feature stories and, usually, a quick congratulation to a couple in Topeka or Omaha or Sarasota who had been married for 75 years or so. The news stories, and Harvey's distinctive take on them -- usually, but not always, from a conservative political perspective -- flowed seamlessly into commercial messages for products Mr. Harvey himself endorsed.
Perhaps the most effective radio pitchman in the history of the medium, his sponsors stayed with him for decades. Other potential sponsors lined up to buy time on the news and commentary segments or on “The Rest of the Story," mesmerizing little tales, cleverly written, that featured a surprising O Henry-style twist to stories listeners thought they already knew.
In 2001, ABC Radio Networks awarded Mr. Harvey, then 83, a 10-year, $100-million contract, a tribute not only to his gargantuan listening audience of some 22 million people but also to his uncanny ability to inspire trust in his listeners -- trust that the products he pitched, whether mattresses, nutritional supplements or Bose radios, were worth buying. Worth buying because Paul Harvey said so.
A 1985 survey found that the four most popular radio programs on the air nationally were, in descending order, “Paul Harvey News and Comment" on weekday mornings, “Paul Harvey News and Comment" weekdays at noon, the Saturday “Paul Harvey News and Comment" at noon on Saturday, and “The Rest of the Story" each weekday afternoon.
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