Paul Harvey Died Today

February 28, 2009


Legendary radio broadcaster Paul Harvey died today at the age of 90. Besides virtually creating his own medium that combined reporting with news commentary, he also knew how to tell a story. He gave the tease, paused, told a bit more, paused, let the story unravel a bit at a time, pausing along the way, then he would hit the punch line. He was a master writer with an utterly distinctive voice. For more than a generation, his was the dominant voice on the AM dial.

I mention his passing to honor him and because I knew him slightly during my early years in Oak Park. He and his wife Lynne (whom he always called “Angel") lived in nearby River Forest, and some years before I came to Calvary, he had attended the church on a regular basis. When the pulpit committee interviewed me, they made sure I knew that Paul Harvey had once attended the church.

And who showed up on my very first Sunday but Paul Harvey and his wife Lynne.

That created a bit of stir, and I was ushered out to meet him. I remember him as being tall with a shock of reddish hair. When he saw me, he stuck out his hand and said, “Hello, Tex!” in exactly the same tone in which he would say, “Hello, America . . . Stand by for news!”

Paul and Lynne Harvey attended services at Calvary a half-dozen times during the first couple of years of my ministry. We never had a lengthy conversation, but he was always very friendly and very gracious. It is a tribute to the power of his personality that although I haven’t seen him in many years, I still vividly remember his first greeting.

Paul Harvey was a believer in Jesus. Now he knows . . . the rest of the story. 

I mention his passing to honor him and because I knew him slightly during my early years in Oak Park. He and his wife Lynne (whom he always called “Angel") lived in nearby River Forest, and some years before I came to Calvary, he had attended the church on a regular basis. When the pulpit committee interviewed me, they made sure I knew that Paul Harvey had once attended the church.

And who showed up on my very first Sunday but Paul Harvey and his wife Lynne.

That created a bit of stir, and I was ushered out to meet him. I remember him as being tall with a shock of reddish hair. When he saw me, he stuck out his hand and said, “Hello, Tex!” in exactly the same tone in which he would say, “Hello, America . . . Stand by for news!”

Paul and Lynne Harvey attended services at Calvary a half-dozen times during the first couple of years of my ministry. We never had a lengthy conversation, but he was always very friendly and very gracious. It is a tribute to the power of his personality that although I haven’t seen him in many years, I still vividly remember his first greeting.

Paul Harvey was a believer in Jesus. Now he knows . . . the rest of the story. 

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