Paul Harvey... Good day!

Harvey received the Medal of Freedom in 2005.

It was on this date in 1976 that Paul Harvery launched his successful news spinoff, "The Rest of the Story."  So, I thought it was only appropriate, on the official "The Rest of the Story Day," to pay it our respects.

I literally grew up on Paul Harvey's radio program, and in fact would call it one of the two most significant factors in my ultimately becoming a broadcaster. 

My dad owned a '72 Oldsmobile Cutlass -- ugly, matt gray-green Rolling Awesome -- with the original AM-only stereo.  My memories associated with this car include fighting with the small front window, struggling to get the door open, and listening to talk radio with my Dad.  The interior was an aromatic blend of spilled coffee and dead moths, but I loved those drives, listening to Paul Harvey (or Rush Limbaugh) and having conversations with Dad about the things we were listening to.

Also, at least it was in better shape than this one.

 The news would come on, and then, Harvey's distinctive, homely cadence as he introduced us to "the Rest of the Story."  And I would wait through the entire story, for the identity of the story's subject, for that little twist of the familiar.  And then came "page two," and before you even knew what was happening, Harvey had woven such an engaging and interesting story that, by the time he told you about the Bose speaker system he was pitching, you were ready to buy a dozen of them -- and you still weren't sure whether he was actually selling them or if they just happened to be part of the story. 

I mourned with many when Paul Harvey passed away in 2009, and I'll never forget him.  I'll never forget that old piece of crap car, held together as much by rust as by metal, or those afternoons with my Dad and that AM radio.