In the summers when I was a kid in the 1970s, I would work for my father bailing hay. I always carried a little transistor radio…

I’d stop for lunch at midday, park the tractor under a tree for shade, eat my food, and listen to Paul Harvey. Hearing his voice today transports me back to the balmy summers of my childhood when my parents, brother, grandmothers, aunts, and uncles were all still alive and well. My heart longs for those days.

From 1952 through 2008, Paul Harvey’s voice reached up to 24 million people per week. The “Paul Harvey News” was broadcast on 1,200 radio stations, 400 AFN stations, and 300 newspapers. Most people are probably familiar with his popular radio program “The Rest of the Story.”

In Paul Harvey, America discovered a gem. Generations of people listened to him not just for his stories and knowledge, but also for the calming impact of his assuring and easily recognized voice, which transported you to another world for a few seconds, testing and possibly forever changing your way of thinking.

If you just listened, this man could teach you a lot about life. I miss those days. Those periods of introspection and serious pondering. I sometimes wonder if we as individuals do enough of that these days.

Paul Harvey, on the other hand, wrote an article that he modified several times over the years even before he began his career in television. It’s a contentious piece, and you can interpret it in any way you want: metaphorically or literally – it rings true either way.

Paul Harvey reads the 1996 version of the same essay in this audio clip. It’s mind-boggling how exact some of his “predictions” are.