Paul Harvey's Wife Passes Away

The man behind one of the most distinctive voices in radio has suffered a terrible loss:

RIVER FOREST, Ill. - Lynne Harvey, wife of longtime broadcaster Paul Harvey, has died.

Lynne Harvey died early Saturday at the couple's home in the Chicago suburb of River Forest after a yearlong battle with leukemia, according to a release from the "Paul Harvey News" office. The release did not mention her age.

Lynne Harvey, a St. Louis native, was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Washington University. She was working as an education reporter at KXOK in St. Louis when she met Paul Harvey, who was a special events director at the station.

They married in 1940 and later moved to Chicago.

Lynne Harvey is credited with developing some of Paul Harvey's best known broadcast features, including "The Rest of the Story."

She was the first producer to enter the National Radio Hall of Fame and was inducted in 1997. She was a founding member of the board of the Museum of Broadcast Communications, home of the hall of fame.

Bruce DuMont, museum founder and president, said Lynne Harvey was "one of the most remarkable behind-the-scenes talents in the history of American broadcasting, both radio and television."

Describing her as warm, smart and generous, DuMont noted that Lynne Harvey set aside her own on-air radio aspirations to work as a producer for her husband.

"She crafted the most successful radio career of all time," DuMont said. "She was to Paul Harvey what Colonel Parker was to Elvis Presley."

DuMont called the Harveys' relationship "probably the greatest love story that I've ever experienced."

I've long enjoyed Harvey's work. My condolences to the entire Harvey family.