Harvey's death triggers memories

By Staff
Jonathan Willis
The weekend death of longtime talk radio personality Paul Harvey triggered 30 year-old memories for some county residents.
Harvey, the news commentator and talk-radio pioneer who became one of the nation's most familiar voices, died Saturday in Arizona. He was 90.
Harvey worked for ABC Radio Networks for more than 50 years.
Known for his trademark delivery of "The Rest of the Story," Harvey had been heard nationally since 1951, when he began his "News and Comment" for ABC Radio Networks.
At the peak of his career, Harvey reached more than 24 million listeners on more than 1,200 radio stations and charged $30,000 to give a speech.
In 1976, one Russellville man convinced Harvey to visit Franklin County. It only cost $10,000 then.
"At the time we could have gotten Henry Kissinger, Ted Kennedy or Richard Nixon cheaper than we could get Paul Harvey," said Bill Pugh, who worked on the bicentennial celebration committee that year.
After hearing Harvey deliver a speech in Florida a few years earlier, Pugh knew exactly who he wanted to speak at the county's centennial celebration.
"I told our industrial board, 'would it be worth $10,000 to pay for coast-to-coast national advertising," Pugh said, referring to Harvey's national audience.
The celebration attracted more than 40,000 people to downtown Russellville, Pugh said.
"It was the biggest crowd I ever saw in downtown Russellville," he said.
Harvey spoke to a crowd of more than 1,200 at the high school auditorium before taking part in one of the largest parades in north Alabama that year.
"It was an unbelievable turnout," Pugh said. "There were people as far as and as thick as you could see."
The following day, after returning to Chicago, Harvey told his audience about his trip to Russellville and encouraged businesses looking to re-locate to look at Franklin County.
"He said where else can you sit in your office and look at turkey and deer out your window," Pugh said.