Entertaining the Bush Leagues

It's not difficult to picture Brian Harrington, AS'98, charming a former U.S. president backstage at Maine's Arundel Barn Playhouse last summer. The young actor's banter brims with one-liners and anecdotes.

The Ramsey, New Jersey, native was costarring in Sugar, a musical version of the film classic Some Like It Hot. Playing a musician who goes incognito after witnessing a shooting, Harrington performed in drag for most of the show. "I have new respect for women in heels," he quips.

At intermission, two Secret Service agents came backstage to say that Kennebunkport denizens George and Barbara Bush were in the audience and wanted to greet the cast. "So here I am in two-inch pumps with rouge, earrings, wearing a raspberry dress," Harrington explains. "And I say, 'Hello, Mr. President.' He says, 'You know, you're very talented—and pretty.' And Barbara says, 'Oh, young man, I have to tell you—you have exceptional calves.'"

Later, the former POTUS, a strong supporter of the arts, enjoyed Harrington in another summer-stock offering, the Tony-winning farce Lend Me a Tenor. Afterward, he invited the cast to his Kennebunkport compound, treating them to a day of swimming and speedboat riding. That evening, the guests performed for the Bushes in their living room, where the entertainment wrapped up with a group sing-along.

It was a show-stopping experience, but Harrington had already paid some theatrical dues to earn it. Since graduating from Northeastern, he's worked three summers at Disney?ÄìMGM Studios. He's also hit the dinner-theater circuits in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.

In October, Harrington moved to New York City. The new address makes getting to Broadway easier. But it's going to be a heck of a commute to entertain old friends in Kennebunkport.

— Katy Kramer, MA'00

  Photo courtesy James McDaniel

Starfish Trooper

James McDaniel, AS'89, found his degree in modern languages came in handy recently, at a weeklong immersion course in Haitian Creole.

Necessity was the mother of education for this Springfield, Virginia, resident. Over the past seven years, McDaniel has been the coordinator of Operation Starfish, a nonprofit organization that aids the poor in Haiti. So far, he's made eight visits to the struggling Caribbean country.

McDaniel used to be the White House liaison at the National Park Service, responsible for the maintenance and repair of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and its gardens. He oversaw 110 employees, sixty volunteers, and a $10 million budget. Then, in 1999, he took a trip to Haiti with members of his local parish. "I saw things that tore my heart out," he says. "But I also saw the potential for making a difference. I began thinking that some part of my life had to be dedicated to the less fortunate."

Following that trip, his church's pastor founded the Starfish project, and McDaniel retired from his government job to assume the role of rallying and organizing the support of more than two hundred U.S. schools and churches. Operation Starfish stresses that small donations add up to a big difference, particularly in developing nations. "In the last three years, we've been able to build five hundred houses in one village," says McDaniel.

He thrives on doing the unexpected. McDaniel dropped out of Northeastern just before his scheduled 1969 graduation to take a job at Grand Canyon National Park with the National Park Service, which led to his White House liaison position. Twenty years later, he came back to NU for his sheepskin. Now, in addition to his Starfish post, he also consults for an organization called Food for the Poor.

Ever teeter at the brink of a risky venture, unsure of what to do? "It's okay to make a major change and take a leap into the unknown," McDaniel advises. "It doesn't have to be Haiti. It could be just down the street. Things have a way of working out."

— Katy Kramer, MA'00

  Debra Taylor Blair
  Photo courtesy Debra Taylor Blair

In Search of Promised Lands

Debra Taylor-Blair, AS'87, nearly missed commencement. "The morning of my graduation, I had to get up at four o'clock to do my deliveries at twenty different locations," she says. Her precious cargo? A fifteen-page monthly published by her own start-up company, the Listing Information Network (LINK), a service for realtors.

"I'd had co-ops as an administrative assistant at various real-estate offices," explains Taylor-Blair. "Sundays, I'd see brokers circle ads in red, then try to figure out the addresses of the advertised properties. I realized brokers only made money when they were listing and selling property, not when they were tracking down information."

The economics major recognized an opportunity. Trekking around Boston, she sold her idea for a new listing service to real estate offices. She promised the first report in two months. As it turned out, the due date was her graduation day.

Today, LINK sends a daily report of real estate listings and sold properties to seven hundred real-estate companies, brokers, appraisers, banks, and developers. But schlepping hard copy around is a thing of the past. "It's all computerized," says Taylor-Blair, "and we write our own software."

LINK's president and founder divides her time between a house on Martha's Vineyard and an apartment in Boston. Taylor-Blair, her husband—who's the Edgartown harbormaster—and two small children gravitate to the water. In fact, Taylor-Blair recently swam the long stretch from Martha's Vineyard to Nantucket.

She's thoughtful about her career's currents, too. "I want people to know how valuable co-op is," she says. Without it, "I would have never gotten the idea to go out on my own. I got to work with people at higher levels and realized how alike we were. Co-op gave me the confidence to start my own business."

— Katy Kramer, MA'00