Herbert Gans, a groundbreaking sociologist and media analyst who advocated for greater diversity and public participation in everything from the suburbs and the arts to the voices that shape the news, died Monday (April 21) at age 97.
His death was confirmed by his son, David Gans, who said he died at his Manhattan home after a lengthy illness.
Author of such influential works as “The Urban Villagers” and “The Levittowners,” Herbert Gans was a refugee from Nazi Germany who liked to say he viewed his adopted country through the eyes of an outsider.
