Scratching the Surface: Adventures in Storytelling by Harvey Ovshinsky

Abstract

Reviewed by: Scratching the Surface: Adventures in Storytelling by Harvey Ovshinsky John McMillian Harvey Ovshinsky. Scratching the Surface: Adventures in Storytelling. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2021. Pp. 272. Illustrations. Paperback: $27.99. I recently came across a line by the epigrammatically clever writer Henry Oliver, who devised what he calls "The Fitzgerald Rule" (after the British novelist Penelope Fitzgerald): "You spot talent by looking at what people persist at, not what persistently happens to them." By that measure, Harvey Ovshinsky—a Detroit-born-and-raised writer and creator who has thrived in a variety of mediums—is talented indeed. In his warm and inviting memoir, Scratching the Surface: Adventures in Storytelling, Ovshinsky takes us behind the scenes of his work as a journalist, publisher, radio broadcaster, documentary filmmaker, and teacher. Along the way, he offers guidance and lessons for readers who may share his enthusiasm for storytelling. Ovshinsky's childhood was not a happy one. His socialist father, Stanford R. Ovshinsky, was an inventor who, among many other [End Page 153] accomplishments, helped pioneer the development of electric cars. But Stan fought frequently with his wife, Norma, and he kept a mistress before the couple finally divorced. (Ovshinsky refers to his parents' "Seven-Year War.") During this time, Ovshinsky showed early flashes of creativity. When he was in eighth grade, for instance, he co-created The Transylvanian Newsletter, a mimeographed fanzine for kids who liked horror and monster movies. After graduating from Mumford High School in 1965, Ovshinsky was forced to briefly live with his mother in Los Angeles, where he got caught up in the Sunset Strip's burgeoning post-beat bohemian scene. He watched avant-garde films at L.A.'s famed Fifth Estate coffee house, and under the tutelage of the legendary publisher Art Kunkin, he briefly worked at the nation's first underground newspaper, the Los Angeles Free Press. All the while, however, he pined for his previous life in Michigan. Upon returning to Detroit in 1966, Ovshinsky befriended radical artists John and Leni Sinclair and became the publisher of The Fifth Estate. This was another pioneering and provocative underground rag, which catalyzed political tumult and contributed mightily to the growth of Detroit's countercultural community. From my vantage as a historian of the Vietnam Era, the book's most impactful passages describe the Motor City in the late 1960s, when it was a hive of rebellious left-wing activity. Bands like the MC5 and Iggy and the Stooges commanded the local music scene. The Detroit Artists Workshop organized concerts, plays, poetry readings, and gallery shows. The Fifth Estate operated out of a wooden building on Plum Street, the popular district for radical and countercultural youths. During the summer of 1967, Ovshinsky helped cover the Detroit riot, which was the bloodiest and most destructive upheaval to occur in the United States since the Civil War. All the while, Detroit's notorious Red Squad surveilled Ovshinsky and others for supposedly subversive political activities. But this was just the beginning of "Hippie Harvey's" career in a variety of creative mediums. At twenty-one, he became news director at WABX, a beloved community-minded, free-form progressive rock station. Later, he hosted popular talk shows at a different station. He produced award-winning documentary films, and he describes numerous setbacks, achievements, and electric moments with his interview subjects. He helped manage a Detroit public television station, and in 1986, after receiving a generous inheritance from his mother, he created HKO Media, a successful film and video production company. [End Page 154] A back cover blurb calls Scratching the Surface a "biotext," and that is a good descriptor. Across the book, a clear theme emerges: An artist should take risks. Ovshinsky was rarely afraid to plunge himself into unfamiliar creative projects. He learned by doing, adapting, and by frequently being way over his head. Ovshinsky reminds us that creative work can, at times, seem impossibly difficult. But one does not need deep reservoirs of talent to tell stories successfully, Ovshinsky says. "You just have to feel strongly about something, or have something important to say or get off your chest. And then you have to find the courage...