Sidney Harman dies

The 92-year-old audio pioneer who recently made a splash with his purchase of Newsweek (later merged with the Daily Beast) had suffered from acute myeloid leukemia. From the NYT:

Mr. Harman, who was married to Representative Jane Harman, a nine-term California Democrat who lost a 1998 California gubernatorial primary race largely financed by him, was also a golfing, tennis-playing health enthusiast who leaped out of bed every morning to do calesthenics, a scholar of boundless energy and Utopian ideas, and something of a Renaissance man. He studied physics, engineering and social psychology; was a classical music fan and jazz aficionado; recited Shakespeare by heart; was a civil rights and antiwar activist; created programs to humanize the workplace; was the president of a Quaker college on Long Island; served as President Jimmy Carter's deputy secretary of commerce, published a memoir at 85 and was still active in business in his 90s.

Add to that his work at USC, where he was had lectured at a number of schools. From a 2008 interview: "The vast majority of people wake up somehow determined to get through the day. This is not a stimulating prospect. I believe the way to get out of bed is with a leap and to hold the conviction that each day is going to be the greatest day of my life."