Harry Hall Pearson Jr. dead; founder of The Absolute Sound magazine, former Newsday reporter was 77

Harry Hall Pearson Jr., a mythic figure to music lovers who prize high-end audio and whose magazine The Absolute Sound transformed how equipment was judged, has died.

Pearson died in his Sea Cliff home on Nov. 4. He was 77.

He once set out to lose weight by walking an hour a day before dawn for seven years in a row, but had struggled the past few years with heart problems, said Joey Weiss, who co-founded Pearson's second magazine, HP Soundings.

Pearson launched his first magazine in 1973, and began overturning the way audio systems were rated by tossing aside numerical measures of distortion and the like, said Jim Hannon, the magazine's publisher. "What Harry said was, 'Hogwash, how does it sound compared to live music?' "

In its early days, the magazine did not accept advertising, and Pearson, called "HP," did not shrink from stringent criticism if he felt it were warranted. Nor did he gauge quality by price tags.

Jonathan Valin, the magazine's executive editor, said: "What really made his reputation was his very first review . . . of a pair of very inexpensive loudspeakers called Advent." One speaker cost just over $100, far short of what some competitors charged.

Born in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, Pearson graduated from Duke University. His writing talent led him to an Arkansas newspaper, the Pine Bluff Commercial. There, his series on the battle to stop the federal government from damming the Buffalo River helped win it designation as the first national river.

Pearson covered the environment for Newsday for about six years in the mid-1970s, tackling fights over the pesticide DDT and "the sludge monster," or ocean dumping.

He also reviewed books and records. "He started reading record labels when he was 3 years old," said his sister, Loretta Pearson, of Seattle, adding her brother inherited their mother's writing talent.

An early, biting critic of digital recordings, his views later became mainstream, and a number of manufacturers submitted tributes to TheAbsoluteSound.com.

Pearson not only hired and mentored many of the current crop of audio writers, but also hosted lavish, nonbusiness gatherings for the high-quality audio industry he helped create. "He used to throw 'Friendship Parties' at his home, he would invite pretty much everybody," Weiss said.

His legacy continues through his list of the best records: http://store.acousticsounds.com/index.cfm?get=TAS_Super_Vinyl_List

"The influence it had on the market was immense and not just in the United States, but worldwide," Valin said.

After selling the magazine a couple of years ago, his independent nature and fidelity to the field led him to start up a second magazine. "He was aching to do something on his own," Weiss said.

Pearson's legacy in Arkansas has continued thanks to Paul Greenberg, editorial page editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, who has written about one of his Pine Bluff stories on Dec. 21 for 46 years.

Jailed because he was a homeless man riding the rails, Joe Telles died in his cell -- and would have been forgotten had Pearson not uncovered his identity and chronicled his sad life.

Visitation will be 4 p.m. Wednesday at Dodge-Thomas Funeral Home, 26 Franklin Ave., Glen Cove. A service begins at 5 p.m.