A fellow a'phile friend alerted me today of Sid Harman's passing. To those who don't know who he was...think Harman/Kardon and Harman Industries...a legend in the industry.
I met Sid Harmon on two occasions, once on Long Island in the early days of Harmon Kardon, and once at Harmon Industries when I was visiting as Head of Digital Cinema for Miramax Films. On both occasions, he treated me with equal respect and courtesy. It was truly impressive that his substantial success did not seem to change him much from the early days.
I read a lot about Sid Harmon in many articles about his life, but there is one detail I should remember now - somewhere he referred that when he developed his first stereo system his friends were fascinated with the way it could reproduce Shostakovich's Fifth. As it is also one of my favorite symphonies I could never forget it. May he rest in peace.