| Harvey Ovshinsky | |
|---|---|
Harvey Ovshinsky, circa 1970 |
|
| Born | April 9, 1948 |
| Occupation | film maker, author, journalist, story consultant |
| Website | |
| HKO Media Web Site | |
Harvey Ovshinsky (born April 9, 1948) is a journalist, story consultant media producer, film maker, and self described "Detroit Story Teller". Ovshinsky was raised in Detroit, Michigan and attended Mumford High School. In 1965, at age 17, he founded and edited Fifth Estate, one of the longest running underground newspapers. Fifth Estate has been continuously published to this day with help of staffers like Peter Werbe who have worked the paper since soon after its establishment. Ovshinsky served as editor until 1968 when he was drafted and became a conscientious objector to the war in Vietnam. In 1970 (age 21), was hired as news director of WABX, Detroit's alternative FM radio station.[1]
Ovshinsky received a 1992 Peabody Award and 1993 Emmy for the documentary Close to Home: The Tammy Boccomino Story, a film about the experiences of mother and son with HIV.[2][3] In 2004 he received a "Career Achievement" award for his films from the Detroit Docs International Film Festival.[4] In 1994 Ovshinsky received an Alfred I. duPont - Columbia University Award Silver Baton and a Cine Golden Eagle Film and Video Competition award for "The Last Hit" a documentary film concerning youth violence.[5] Ovshinsky is currently the president of HKO Media, a consulting and production firm.[6]
Ovshinsky's father is autodidact inventor Stanford R. Ovshinsky. His son Noah Ovshinsky is a reporter for WDET, the public radio station in Detroit. Ovshinsky's daughter, Natasha, is a physical education instructor at the Grosse Pointe Academy where Ovshinsky taught creative writing for 15 years. Ovshinsky met his wife, Cathie Kurek-Ovshinsky at Detroit’s Lafayette Clinic when she was a psychiatric nurse and he was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War era.