Paul Harvey died Saturday. He was 90.
He was the last of his kind-- an old time, old style, larger than life, big voiced radio commentator. The broadcasts were 100 per cent Harvey-- no interviews, no staging, no gimmicks. He was perhaps the only guy who could get away with that. The writing was clean and crisp. His staccato delivery made it all work.
Paul Harvey was the master at mixing news and commentary. Even if you didn't agree with him, he was always listenable-- one of the very, very few people who caused you to turn a dial in his direction.
I usually find myself in a car at 8:30 AM, and the dial always got twisted over to Paul Harvey. As soon as he finished, I was gone.
It wasn't the weekend until you heard Paul Harvey say "It's Friday!"
Paul Harvey did many of his own commercials. The man could sell you anything. It was said he personally tried every product he advertised. You could trust him.
Illnesses forced Harvey to cut back on his broadcasts. The replacements, including Paul's son, were adequate, at best. There is no replacing Paul Harvey. I was listening the other morning. Paul's son was filling in, but dad was on a recorded commercial. He didn't sound good. You just got a feeling that there wasn't much time left.
Radio will not be the same.
