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Lynne Cooper Harvey

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lynne "Angel" Cooper Harvey
BornOctober 4, 1916
DiedMay 3, 2008 (aged 91)
Resting placeForest Home Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois
NationalityAmerican
Alma materWashington University in St. Louis
OccupationRadio producer
SpousePaul Harvey (1940–2008)
ChildrenPaul Harvey Jr.

Lynne "Angel" (née Cooper) Harvey (October 4, 1916 – May 3, 2008) was the radio producer for The Rest of the Story, and the first producer to enter the National Radio Hall of Fame. Dubbed the "First Lady of Radio," Harvey's sixty-year career in radio transformed American radio and television news format.

Early life and career

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Harvey was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a BA and MA in English. Harvey was a member of Phi Beta Kappa at Washington University[1] and was a former schoolteacher.[2] In 1939, she went to work for KXOK. There she met her future husband Paul Harvey. Paul Harvey invited her to dinner, proposed to her after a few minutes of conversation and from then on called her "Angel," even on his radio show. The two were married in 1940,[1] and moved to WKZO in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1941.[3] The couple moved to Chicago in 1945.[4]

In 1997, Lynne Harvey was the first producer ever inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame, and had developed some of her husband's best-known features, such as "The Rest of the Story."[1] While working on her husband's radio show, she established 10 p.m. as the hour in which news is broadcast. She was the first woman to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Chicago chapter of American Women in Radio and Television.[5] She worked in television also, and created a television show called Dilemma which is acknowledged as the prototype of the modern talk show genre. While working at CBS, she was among the first women to produce an entire newscast. In later years, she was best known as a philanthropist.[6]

Later life and death

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On May 17, 2007, Harvey told his radio audience that Angel had contracted leukemia. Her death, at the age of 91, was announced by ABC radio on May 3, 2008.[5] When she died at their River Forest home, the Chicago Sun-Times described her as, "More than his astute business partner and producer, she also was a pioneer for women in radio and an influential figure in her own right for decades." According to the founder of the Museum of Broadcast Communications, Bruce DuMont, "She was to Paul Harvey what Colonel Parker was to Elvis Presley. She really put him on track to have the phenomenal career that his career has been."[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Paul Harvey's Wife Dies at Age 92". ABC News. 3 May 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  2. ^ Wendy, Katie (14 June 2009). "Good Day! The Paul Harvey Story". Washington Times. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  3. ^ "Lynne Harvey". Radio Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 26 May 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  4. ^ Witt, Linda (22 January 1979). "Forget Cronkite: Paul Harvey Is the Biggest Newscaster in America, and Getting Bigger". People. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  5. ^ a b "Lynne 'Angel' Harvey Dies At 92". Radio Ink. 5 May 2008. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  6. ^ "Death Notice: Lynne Harvey". Chicago Tribune. 4 May 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  7. ^ "Wife of broadcaster Paul Harvey dies". Daily Herald. 4 May 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
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