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