Paul Harvey

ABC Radio has prepared a tribute to Paul Harvey, who passed away Saturday at age 90, for the radio stations which carried Harvey's “News and Comment.” About 37 minutes long, the audio/radio program narrated by Gil Gross recounts Harvey's life and includes many excerpts from his newscasts and speeches he delivered, as well as some about his “The Rest of the Story.”

ABC Radio News has a tribute page, with a statement from former President George W. Bush.

MP3 audio of the 37-minute “ABC News special on the life and career of Paul Harvey” (34 Mb)

MP3 audio of the 6 minute version of the special narrated by Gil Gross on Harvey (2 Mb)

WGN Radio in Chicago has a page with about two dozen MP3 clips of Harvey from over the years.

The death of Paul Harvey has resulted in some very respectful notices in the media, like Richard Corliss of Time magazine. (Except for this sentence: "The rosy sentimentalist was also a fretful conservative; he backed Joe McCarthy's search for imaginary Communists in the State Department." ) Brian Maloney at Radio Equalizer is highlighting Internet scribblings offering a more impolite reflection, of the rot-in-Hell variety. Ken Layne, the operator of the liberal blog Wonkette, trashed Harvey, and Rush Limbaugh:

The best thing about Paul Harvey -- humble old Paul Harvey with his solid family life and one (just one!) wife who was with him until her death in 2007 -- is that his peak audience was millions bigger than Rush Limbaugh's largest audience.’

Fat sex-creep Rush peaked with 20 million listeners in 2003 (all downhill since then!), while Paul Harvey peaked with 22 million. And while Paul Harvey was long mocked by hipsters and comedians, he sure wasn't hated. In fact, Paul Harvey was one of the most admired people in America for half a century. Rush Limbaugh is despised by most Americans, while his only fans are mouth-breathing angry losers.

Radio newsman Paul Harvey, whose career spanned seven decades of broadcast excellence, passed away earlier today Fox News is reporting. He was 90 years of age.

Harvey was a consummate professional and truly a legend in his craft.

ABC Radio network-affiliated radio stations are currently playing a retrospective, including classic clips of Harvey's news and comment broadcasts.