BALEWA ALBERT BLACKMAN: Music by
Night
Balewa Albert Blackman worked as an accountant, but
that was the least of it. "He liked a lot of different
things," said his sister, Susan McMillian. Which
explains, sort of, how a man with an undergraduate degree
in biochemical engineering wound up working as a junior
accountant at Cantor Fitzgerald by day and as a D.J. at
small clubs -- jazz, rhythm and blues, hip-hop -- at
night, which "was just something he did on the side,
because he loves music so much," Ms. McMillian said.
Never one to take his sidelines lightly, Mr. Blackman
had also been training since August in a Navy Seals-type
fitness program, which involved getting up at dawn and
getting used to swimming with fins and running in boots.
By the end of the program, Ms. McMillian said, her
brother, who stood about 5-foot-5, would have been able
to complete a 500-yard swim in under 10 minutes, 100
push-ups in 2 minutes, 200 situps in 2 minutes and a
1.5-mile run in under 9 minutes.
"He liked the idea of not just doing the physical
work, but also learning how to think like a Navy Seal
person," she said. "He likes things that are conditioning
for the body, but also conditioning for the mind."
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