RIP Paul Harvey

News commentator and talk-radio pioneer Paul Harvey died on Saturday in Arizona at the age of 90.

A spokesman for ABC Radio Networks said Harvey died surrounded by family at a hospital in Phoenix, where he had a winter home.

No cause of death was immediately available.

Harvey had had to go off the air for several months in 2001 because of a virus that weakened a vocal cord.  He later returned to work in Chicago and was still active as he passed his 90th birthday.

His death comes just less than a year after his wife and longtime producer, Lynne.

Paul Harvey Jr. said in a statement:

“My father and mother 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.”

Known for his popular, The Rest of the Story, Harvey had been heard nationally since 1951, when he began his “News and Comment” for ABC Radio Networks.

Our hearts go out to his family and friends during this difficult time.