I know Paul Harvey from back in the “old days” of Berlin listening to AFN radio and listening to the old right wing fart giving his read on the daily news. Most of the time, I wanted to slap the radio silly.
Now, on my way home from work, there is a fairly liberal news/talk station I listen to that has his segment “The Rest Of The Story” on every night, just about when I am about to turn off the freeway. A lot of those stories sound a tad Urban Legend to me, but I usually forget about them by the time I get to a computer to verify the fact.
Does anyone else listen to him (or recently, Paul Harvey Jr. filling in sometimes)?
Not that I would ever quote him, but just wondering if anyone is doing any fact checking on those tidbits he relates.
but I do remember a broadcast of This American Life in which one story was from a guy who worked for (I think) Paul Harvey when he started out in radio, looking for stories for Paul’s segment. The guy found some that he recommended not be broadcast, but Harvey & his people broadcast them in a rather embellished form to make them sound better. Then he quit.
He never actually named Paul Harvey as the guy he was working for (maybe legal reasons?), but I thought the clues he gave certainly pointed in that direction.
Harvey’s show is owned by a right-wing Christian broadcasting company (one that has connections to the Billy Graham Crusade) and his content became even more right wing absurdist after the purchase. He is most definitely not reliable.
When I was a teenager I loved his “the rest of the story” tales and bought the books. They were actually an early lesson in “don’t believe everything you read”; several of the ones that I liked about famous people turned out to be seriously misleading. A few examples that I remember:
One is about a man who is a complete failure his entire life until finally and inspirationally he starts a business with his Social Security check and soon owns a worldwide business. His name… was Colonel Sanders…
The truth is a lot less concise and pithy: Sanders was in fact a very successful businessman in middle age and youth, though he happened to get wiped out twice and in order to recoup serious business losses (a highway bypassed his profitable motel and restaurant) began to franchise his chicken recipe. He never owned a worldwide chain of restaurants- he never even owned a KFC franchise for that matter because far from being a late-in-life business genius he made one of the stupidest blunders in American business history. John Y. Brown practically actually bent over backwards while juggling medicine balls and playing a ukelele in an attempt to get the old man to take 10% of worldwide franchising as part of his compensation, a deal that everybody from his accountant to his secretary to his children also advised/begged him to take, but he was an arrogant old fart who knew too much to listen and insisted on a few thousand dollars more cash and no percentage. He died well-to-do but not super rich, most of his money coming from personal appearances and role as a spokesman: he could have been worth hundreds of millions. Meanwhile his accountant and his secretary both bought shares of the restaurant chain and passed him flying in terms of wealth- they both became millionaires many times over.
Sorry, went off in a rant, but the point is that he wasn’t as all the folksy old Horatio Alger from Harvey but a foul-mouthed impossible-to-work-for old man who could be a total fool in his stubborness. I remember other claims made about Louix XIV, Henry Kissinger, and Babe Ruth that were all also heartwarming and only contained a smidgen of highly polished truth. The last time I ever listened to him was when he was reading some glurge about how wonderful and glorious and moral and serene the 1950s were compared to today (yeah… you know, if you weren’t rich and white and straight and male it’s just possible they weren’t all that and a bag of Cheesy Poofs- and even if you were there were a few little things like McCarthyism, Korea, etc. that were just a tad not good) and just got disgusted. The old fart needs to stick to doing what he does competently and well- pimping bug killer and hair gel in the midst of anecdotes about a 94 year old woman who trains squirrels to squaredance- and quit attempting social commentary or educational snippets.
My father-in-law listens to the guy every day. And believes every word, too. Woe be to the person who mentions that not everything on that show is exactly factually correct. I’m guessing that many of his listeners must be the same way.
I’d much rather read snopes.com…most of Paul Harvey’s stories end up there, anyway.
I listen to him during a work break if I remember. Usually i enjoy him, but sometimes I just don’t get it. (Knowing that his broadcast is owned by RWXtians might help explain some of that, I’ll have to apply that fact next time he says something I think is off the wall.)
After his news headline show airs here, I turn to NPR just in time to catch the BBC headlines and 30 second interviews…
[hijack]A friend of mine who served in Viet Nam told me that one day in 1971 or so Paul Harvey (who was carried by Armed Forces Radio) announced that the way to end the War in Viet Nam was for all the soldiers to simply stop fighting. That day over half his unit went on sick call. Does anybody know if this actually happened, or if it’s just another urban legend? What’s The Rest Of The Story?[/hijack]
Good Day
I hate him. He did one of those “Rest of the Stories” about Madalyn Murray O’Hare. At the end he called her a scourge. He’s a dickhead of the highest order.
He also intersperses advertisements amongst his “news” without clearly telling which is which.
My dad used to go out drinking with Col. Sanders when he was in college, as the Col. would pay for the drinks. It’s a fascinating story, and if I remember it, I’ll post it. May take a while to get it all straight.
Rich Hall (who did nothing else worthwhile on Saturday Night Live during is tenure there) did a great Paul Harvey impression. About every third sentance he’d throw in some kind of product promotion (“It’s true…just like…True…Value…Hardware…Centers. Page Four…”)
Personally, I can’t stand him. I don’t know whether it’s because my mother listened to him with religous fevour, or whether it’s because he’s a lying sack of shiite, or just because he has the second-most annoying mannerisms of a radio personality (save for Larry King, who just won’t shut the hell up.)
Paul, why don’ t you and Angel drive your Buick Regal down to the Lazy Boy Showcase Outlet and knock back some Roach Proof while reclining in heavenly comfort?
I used to listen to him in high school a bit. Instead of taking the bus I got my rides home from school (and some years, to school as well) with Mom. His segment almost always came on during the drive, and it was interesting to listen to. Certainly better than a lot of the music that came on.