Was there ever a time when listening to a Paul Harvey broadcast that you felt disapproving or offended? Probably not.
To the contrary, Paul Harvey delighted listeners with a staccato delivery of unique news items and obscure historical vignettes. A failed painter turned out to be Adolf Hitler; the 13-year-old boy who got a cash gift from Franklin Roosevelt turned out to be Fidel Castro, and on and on – a formulaic program agenda that never disappointed. Bottom line: Harvey told stories under the guise of giving the news (i.e., “Stand by for news!”).
And his unique and strategically placed ads had a believability seldom found in high-end, more sophisticated commercials. As we waited for “the rest of the story,” Harvey convincingly touted any one of his apparently favorite products, including ocular nutrition, a favorite sound system, or even a preventative for osteoporosis!
Yes, the real story of Paul Harvey is that every time he hit the airwaves, he was able to pull together a focused audience before shrewdly interrupting himself to hype a personally endorsed product. He knew listeners would attend to his pitch in anticipation of what was to come after the commercial: a guaranteed surprise ending. No wonder so many marketers lined up to vie for his winning endorsements!
Hello Americans, I’m Paul Harvey. You know what the news is, in a minute; you’re going to hear . . . the rest of the story.
Of course, this strategy made Paul Harvey incredibly successful. His annual income was said to be in excess of the earnings of Barbara Walters, Walter Cronkite, and Mike Wallace put together. He loved great products, great ideas, and great men, surrounding himself over the years with all three, included among them such interesting characters as Warren Buffet, Sam Walton, and Billy Graham – all big thinkers, just like he was.
Keep this in mind as you reread his earliest memories. Paul Harvey’s worldview, via his earliest recollections, is easy to decipher once we look behind the curtain of the so-called “obvious answer.”
Each of his earliest memories happens to be a vignette of good versus bad behavior. For example, in memory one, Paul Harvey recalls smoking grapevine, only to receive the punishment of a mouthful of ants. In memory two, he crudely attempts to grab the attention of a girl, only to send her home crying. In memory three, he apparently has been a good student and thus receives the reward of his teacher’s approval, complete with an affectionate kiss on the top of his head! And finally, in memory four, he protects his ass, literally, and gets rewarded by his mother – who spends a relative fortune on his new clothes.
Through his memories, we realize that Paul Harvey saw life through a lens of good and bad behavior. Although history suggests Harvey’s world got less black and white over the years – his worldview, as evidenced in his early memories, suggests man is basically good. If you doubt it, listen again to Paul Harvey’s stories and find all the evidence you can handle.
