Paul Harvey was someone that I heard on the radio all the time when I was growing up. As I got older, I stopped listening to the stations that carried his show - Paul Harvey wasn't a Top 40 guy. I was always really pleased when I got a chance to listen to the noon show. He always made me smile and almost as often he brought a tear to my eye. I always loved to hear...the Rest of the Story.Paul Harvey died 28 Feb 2009. He was a part of ABC radio for 51 years. He will be missed. He really will. It's certainly the end of an era.
I'm not sure if you listened to Paul Harvey, but the next two quotes that I found today describe Paul Harvey's radio voice and style perfectly.
from TV Barn :Remembering Paul Harveyand also...
A few years ago Marc Fisher captured that feeling perfectly in a profile of Paul Harvey. Fisher, who can be as biting and cynical as any newspaper writer, had come to Chicago to watch his subject do a broadcast. The two men chatted until right before the clock struck noon, and then:
A brief silence. Then a suddenly booming voice nearly rocks me out of my chair: "HELLO AMERICANS! THIS IS PAUL HARVEY! SSTTAANNDD BYYY FOR NEEEEEWS!!!!"
from TV Barn :Remembering Paul Harvey
Finally, a word about Paul Harvey's non-verbal communication. No one in radio got away with the silences that he did. His pauses weren't just pregnant, they were Nadya Suleman pregnant. They were amazingly long, by radio standards. They challenged the listener's assumption that an interruption to the flow of continuous noise meant something was wrong. Nothing was wrong; Paul Harvey just wanted the listener's attention back, in case it had drifted. The great communicator was speaking to his invisible audience with invisible words. And they listened.
So now, as you finish this, don't just observe a moment of silence for Paul Harvey. Listen to the silence.
Gooood day!
Kristin
4 comments:
My parents have listened to him for years, so I grew up listening to him.
It is amazing to me that he managed to stay on the radio so long!
I listen to National Public Radio almost 24/7. I KNOW the voices of the broadcasters (and there are many). It's a wonderful thing, to listen to the tone, the delivery, the accent (Silvia Poggioli, yes,so Italian; but then,Lakshmi Singh, not terribly Indian, but she always reports from "WaRshington." I love it... Galen Corlett has one of the most beautiful voices I have ever heard and I wish I could have heard it on the radio. And so yes, finally, I certainly do remember Paul Harvey and mourn his passing. My children know radio, I've made sure of that; they don't listen much right now, but I think they will as they grow older. I hope this tradition carries on. It stirs and excites the imagination!
I loved listening to "the rest of the story" whenever I caught it on the radio...he had a wonderful speaking voice, delivery, and also made me choke up and reflect on the message he was delivering. I am sad to hear of his passing, but glad to think that now he will know the rest of his story...Marg, I so know what you mean about NPR (which is all I listen to also)!
Rest in peace. He had a captivating voice.
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