APRIL 1 • 2021 | 39

H

arvey Ovshinsky has devoted 
50-plus years to telling stories — 
through newspaper, radio, television 
and screenwriting. He is an award-winning 
journalist, director and producer — serving 
as the catalyst for others to open up and 
share their life experiences.
Now, at age 72, he decided it was time to 
“flip this, and connect my dots,
” Ovshinsky 
says. “I’m a little bit of a puzzle — a mystery.
”
Scratching the Surface: Adventures in 

Storytelling — A Memoir by Harvey 
Ovshinsky does a thoughtful and entertaining 
job of fitting the pieces together. Detroiters, 
especially those of Baby Boomer age and 
older, will enjoy his accounts of student life 
at Henry Ford and Mumford high schools in 
Northwest Detroit, and subsequent college 
years at Wayne State University. Others will 
focus on his ups and downs in print and 
broadcast journalism, especially during the 
heyday of local television documentaries. 

One of the threads holding it all together 
is his curiosity and determination to dig 
beneath the surface and, in this memoir, 
he doesn’t spare himself or his family from 
scrutiny. 
The level of detail about family dynamics 
is surprising and sometimes painful to read.
Ovshinsky was caught in the middle in 
several respects. His older brother, Ben, 
seemed to him to be smarter, better looking 
and closer to his father. His younger brother, 
Dale, had serious communication and emo-
tional difficulties — problems that were later 
diagnosed as autism. 
His father, Stanley, originally a machinist 
and left-wing social activist, later pioneered 
development of nickel batteries for hybrid 
vehicles and solar-cell-producing machines. 
With only a high school education, he 

became an internationally known inven-
tor and businessman, founding Energy 
Conversion Devices. The elder Ovshinsky 
had a grand vision for the way science and 
technology could improve civilization, but 
he was also temperamental and resistant to 
viewpoints different than his own. 
While Harvey was in elementary school, 
his father left the family to live with Iris 
Dibner, who became his second wife and 
business partner. Verbal warfare and turmoil 
resulted. 
Harvey was caught in the crossfire and 
felt “outnumbered and outgunned. I lost my 
voice.
” He believes that this situation was 
probably the inspiration for creating stories 

continued on page 40

The Voice of 
Detroit’s ’60s 
Counterculture

ARTS&LIFE
BOOKS

Journalist and TV producer Harvey Ovshinsky’s 
memoir retells a life of storytelling. 

SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Harvey 
Ovshinsky

