Arthur Hunt
Hunt’s story is intriguing enough to be the subject of several books, a failed movie, and even a short-lived stage play. It has all the classic elements, a home-town boy who makes good, eccentric behavior, a dramatic ending. In American business, there aren’t many old-timers who don’t recall the oddities of Hunt and his company.
Information about Hunt is varied and complex — two biographies paint Hunt as a mentally ill individual, obsessed with privacy and bizarre occult beliefs.
One biography examines the schism between Hunt’s young adult life—as the town drunkard— and his sudden transformation into a genius. Like Nikolai Tesla before him, Hunt seems to be one of the rare individuals who suddenly “understood” universal laws and became what the world at the time termed a “whiz kid”.
The movie—a 1955 B-Movie from Republic Pictures called The Man Who Saw Tomorrow— paints Hunt (ham-handedly) as a bizarre, brilliant futurist trying to change the world. It is loosely based on historical events, and contains special effects and acting so bad that it is nearly un-watchable.
The 1977 play—The Boy from Ohio—ran off Broadway for four weeks successfully before being closed by legal action started by William Lassiter; CEO of Hunt Electronics. Lassiter claimed the play was libelous, painting several HE employees in a poor light, and making Hunt out to be a megalomaniac. Basically, Lassiter used HE’s corporate might to crush the play.
The Hunt Museum still exists in Chester, Ohio— Hunt’s birthplace. It contains copies of all these books, a reel of the film, and even a copy of the play. Otherwise, they are extremely difficult to come by.
Information about Hunt is varied and complex — two biographies paint Hunt as a mentally ill individual, obsessed with privacy and bizarre occult beliefs.
One biography examines the schism between Hunt’s young adult life—as the town drunkard— and his sudden transformation into a genius. Like Nikolai Tesla before him, Hunt seems to be one of the rare individuals who suddenly “understood” universal laws and became what the world at the time termed a “whiz kid”.
The movie—a 1955 B-Movie from Republic Pictures called The Man Who Saw Tomorrow— paints Hunt (ham-handedly) as a bizarre, brilliant futurist trying to change the world. It is loosely based on historical events, and contains special effects and acting so bad that it is nearly un-watchable.
The 1977 play—The Boy from Ohio—ran off Broadway for four weeks successfully before being closed by legal action started by William Lassiter; CEO of Hunt Electronics. Lassiter claimed the play was libelous, painting several HE employees in a poor light, and making Hunt out to be a megalomaniac. Basically, Lassiter used HE’s corporate might to crush the play.
The Hunt Museum still exists in Chester, Ohio— Hunt’s birthplace. It contains copies of all these books, a reel of the film, and even a copy of the play. Otherwise, they are extremely difficult to come by.
Life
1906
1952
46 years old
Children
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