Sidney Harman, 1918–2011

The hi-fi guru who saved Newsweek

Sidney Harman made his name in the 1950s as the inventor of the first integrated hi-fi system, but his ambitions always transcended sound engineering. A prodigiously well-read man who could recite Shakespearean soliloquies by heart, Harman made his mark in industry and politics before taking on an unexpected and quixotic role as the owner of Newsweek.

Born in Montreal in 1918, Harman grew up in New York City as the son of a hearing-aid salesman and earned a physics degree at City College of New York. While serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he developed a “sonic-deception” broadcasting machine deployed to confuse the enemy at the Battle of the Bulge and in the Pacific.

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