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Writer, journalist, news broadcaster, radio host, television producer, creative consultant, and teacher in Detroit, Mich. Includes materials related to Ovshinsky's founding of Detroit's first underground newspaper, The Fifth Estate, as well as photographs, correspondence, writings, personal memorabilia, legal materials, press articles, topical files, transcripts and audiovisual materials representing Ovshinsky's work in radio and television from the 1960s through the 2000s.

The collection traces Harvey Ovshinsky's personal and professional development as a writer, journalist, news broadcaster, radio host, television producer, creative consultant, and teacher. The Personal files include autobiographical writings providing insights into the events in Ovshinsky's childhood and adolescence that led to his early interest in writing and journalism. The Professional files contain the first issues of The Fifth Estate, and extensive memorabilia and press coverage on various radio stations and video and television production companies where Ovshinsky was employed. This series encompasses material on the history of Detroit's counterculture in the 1960s and 1970s. The Project files also include topical files on Detroit culture and history, which inspired many of Ovshinsky's documentaries and creative writing.

Materials from Ovshinsky's teaching career and transcripts from his speaking engagements in the Professional files reveal his approach to teaching writing, while drafts for films, stories, and television series in the Project files offer a view into Ovshinsky's creative process. Files named "War Dances" appear throughout both the Professional files and the Project files series. "War Dances" were an integral part of Ovshinsky's approach to both problem solving and the creative process. "War Dances" were personal notes and reflections in which Ovshinsky assessed his present situation, identified his goals and imagined paths to the solution of a problem or to the final stages of a project. Materials from the subseries Educational and children's properties in the Project files include extensive topical files from Ovshinsky's research on how children learn through play. Samples of Ovshinsky's work in radio, television, educational programming and public speaking are available in Audiovisual materials.

Jerry Peterson, aka Jerry Vile, is a Detroit metro area artist, performer, and publisher known for his provocative style. Peterson created and published several free culture/humor magazines between 1978-1999 including White Noise, Fun: The Magazine for Swinging Intelectuals [sic], and Orbit. The collection is comprised of complete runs of Fun and Orbit and contains a small number of photographs, memorabilia, and other publications including an anthology by Rob St. Mary.

The collection is primarily comprised of the periodicals Fun: The Magazine for Swinging Intelectuals [sic] and Orbit, created and published by Jerry Peterson. The satirical magazines document Detroit's pop and punk culture scenes in the 1980s and 1990s and include articles and graphics on arts, culture, humor, and entertainment. A detailed index of volumes and issues may be found in Box 8; this is a useful reference due to inconsistency of both publications volume/issue numbering scheme.

The collection also contains a small number of photographs and memorabilia from Orbit; special edition publications by Jerry Peterson on Detroit including a satirical ad he had printed in the Detroit Metro Times during the Detroit bankruptcy in 2013; and the book The Orbit Magazine Anthology: re-entry, authored by Rob St. Mary and published in 2015, which chronicles the history of Detroit's alternative publications.

Detroit-area radio journalist, film producer, musician, and author of "The Orbit Magazine Anthology", a book exploring Detroit alternative magazine culture in the 1990s. Personal writing, scripts, notes, video recordings, sound recordings, and clippings.

The Rob St. Mary papers (3 linear feet) are divided into two series:

The Personal Materials series contains personal writing by St. Mary and his collection of "Motorbooty", an alternative magazine published in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Professional Work series contains awards, notes, video recordings, audio recordings, and clippings from St. Mary's work in media production. It highlights his film and radio career and his work on "The Orbit Magazine Anthology."