CQ Book Review: “Wes Schum: Amateur Radio’s Unsung Hero”

ick Tusa is a very good story-teller. Wes Schum is a fascinating biography subject. And the ham radio community appears to be Nick’s main intended audience for this book. Which is why I’ll forgive him for putting only amateur radio in the title. As you’ll learn when you read this book (which you should if you’re at all interested incentury technology extended far beyond amateur radio. He designed and built a variety of products for the U.S. military during and after World War II, as well as electronic equipment for hearing-impaired children, before turning his attention to his longtime hobby of amateur radio. In fact, his many creations were so numerous and varied that they fully occupy the first half of this book. The only real ham radio connections in the early chapters were the ways in which Wes’s ham radio knowledge (he was W9DYV) helped him with his other projects and how his ham radio friends became invaluable resources in a wide variety of ways. But as noted at the beginning, Nick Tusa is an excellent storyteller and the story is compelling.