On Saturday, in Phoenix, Ariz., Paul Harvey, the long time radio host passed away. He was 90 years old. Harvey happened to be the “most listened to radio personality in America,” according to an ABC press release issued shortly after his death.

Harvey is most famous for his program, “The Rest of the Story,” in which he sought to provide, “the heartbeat behind the headline.” The program always began with Harvey saying, in a tone and inflection only he possessed, “You know what the news is, in a minute you’re going to hear … the rest of the story.”

On Thursday morning, also in Phoenix, my grandpa died as well. He was 79 years old. I was home in Arizona for the weekend to mourn with my family and be with my grandma. We spent the majority of our time at her house in Sun City, just being together as a family. I picked the grapefruit trees in her backyard and helped get rid of some of my grandpa’s shoes, as a way to pass the time. After a long, tiring Sunday, I went into grandma’s back room to help put together a slideshow of old photographs of my grandpa for the funeral. After a time, I turned on the television and heard about Harvey’s death.
Saddened to learn of his passing, I remembered the times I would hear his iconic voice on the radio. Anytime I stumbled upon a Paul Harvey program, I listened to the whole broadcast. There was something about his voice that made me feel I was alone in the world he was describing. No matter what back-story he was providing, Harvey made it real and genuine. He made me laugh, he made me think; Paul Harvey was a unique talent.

I stumbled upon a Larry King broadcast of an interview with Harvey that Sunday evening in my grandma’s back room. In 2003, Harvey was in King’s studio as they discussed, amongst many other things, the impending Iraq war and the relatively recent 9/11 tragedy. Harvey was a vibrant personality, even in his old age, making wise cracks and witty jokes that would have made my grandpa proud, all the while making poignant statements about the United States and its place in the world at that time. But it was phone calls from viewers at the end of the broadcast that moved me most. A man from the Midwest asked Harvey about the religiousness of his TV broadcast, “Paul Harvey Comments,” a series that ran for 20 years on ABC. Harvey was touched by the question, and proceeded to talk about his faith, eventually recalling the day he met the Lord. Right there on Larry King, Harvey talked through the gospel.

As I sat in my grandma’s back room with relatives, reminiscing in the living room, the late Paul Harvey began to describe the day some forty years ago when he was baptized. To my surprise, Harvey said it was in Cave Creek, Ariz, the oldest town in the state, where he went to church and committed his life to Jesus, vowing to be baptized that very day. Harvey explained that the little church didn’t have a baptismal, so he and the pastor drove into Phoenix and borrowed a churches baptismal for the ceremony.

So I sat at home in Cave Creek (where there are no caves and one creek) learning that Paul Harvey, my favorite voice on the airwaves found Jesus in my hometown. Talk about the rest of the story.
The days at home got me thinking that it is a funny thing when someone dies and you know they are going be with Jesus. My Grandpa was a good man, a pastor in his younger years and a choir director in his old. He loved the Lord and everybody knew it.

Paul Harvey, a staple in the radio world for literally 70 years, was just the same.

And so, even though the world mourns the loss of a great man, just as my family mourns my grandpa’s death, there is a peace in knowing where they are now.

“Now you know … the rest of the story … Good day.”