DC philanthropist Sidney Harman purchased Newsweek from The Washington Post Company over a year ago, and had just enough time to merge the magazine with The Daily Beast and institute some staff changes before he, sadly, passed away at the age of 92.

But before he made his purchase official, his daughters miiight have thought he was a bit crazy.

In fact, according to a tidbit in the latest DC Catalogue for Philanthropy (Harman’s daughter Barbara is president of the Catalogue), shortly before the sale, one of his daughters emailed him to ask “Are you serious?”

His response: “Of course not; I’m 92.”

A month later, the deal was sealed.