Before there was Rush Limbaugh, there was Paul Harvey. You might not have known it but Harvey was a conservative commentator long before the likes of Rush, Hannity, and even after getting some flack when he told Nixon to quit American involvement in Vietnam – he later regretted it – he remained true to his conservative roots.

Paul Harvey died today at 90.

“Radio legend Paul Harvey, whose news and commentary segments always ended with his distinctive sign-off, “Paul Harvey….good day,” died today at the age of 90, ABC Radio Network reported Saturday.

He died Saturday at his winter home in Phoenix, surrounded by family, network spokesman Louis Adams said. No cause of death was immediately available.

Harvey never viewed himself as a newsman, even though some 18 million people tuned into his daily reports to hear his 15-minute take on the day’s events.

“I’m a professional parade watcher who can’t wait to get out of bed every morning and rush down to the teletypes to pan for gold,” he told CNN’s Larry King in 1988.

That he did with a vengeance since those teletype days in 1951, arriving at his Chicago studio in the pre-dawn hours to produce two news and commentary segments and his evening The Rest of the Story (written by his son, Paul) which were carried on some 1,100 radio stations and 400 Armed Forces Radio Network stations. “

Here’s a broadcast from Harvey soon after 9/11 speaking of “The Rest of the Story” featuring Yakov Smirnoff and his mural, “America’s Heart”.

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