PHOENIX, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Paul Harvey, who entertained generations of radio listeners with his "News & Comment" program, died Saturday in Phoenix, a spokesman said. He was 90.
Spokesman Louis Adams said Harvey died near his winter home, the Chicago Tribune reported.
ABC Radio Networks President Jim Robinson announced Harvey's death in a statement posted on the company's Web site.
"Paul Harvey was one of the most gifted and beloved broadcasters in our nation's history," Robinson said. "As he delivered the news each day with his own unique style and commentary, his voice became a trusted friend in American households."
In addition to "News & Comment," Harvey was also known for his popular feature, "Rest of the Story."
"We will miss our dear friend tremendously and are grateful for the many years we were so fortunate to have known him," Robinson said.
The commentator's son, Paul Harvey Jr., issued a statement saying his father and his mother -- Angel Harvey, who died in 2008 -- "created from thin air what one day became radio and television news."
"So in the past year, an industry has lost its godparents and today millions have lost a friend," Harvey Jr. said.
Paul Harvey Aurandt was born Sept. 4, 1918, in Tulsa, Okla. He was still in high school when he broke into radio in 1933 at KVOO, where he helped clean up before going on the air to read commercials and news.
He worked in Salina, Kan., Oklahoma City and St. Louis before serving in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. After the war, he worked at WENR in Chicago and in 1951 ABC Radio premiered Harvey's network show.
Harvey stopped serving as full-time host of the show in 2008, following a bout with pneumonia and the death of his wife at 92.
He was elected to the National Association of Broadcasters Radio Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Hall of Fame and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005 from President George W. Bush.
