  | Being Harry Potter | |||
 By Jim Beardsworth ’95 With all the recent commotion over the young wizard taking Hollywood by storm, it’s hard to believe there’s enough room for two of them. But it’s true. Right here in Rhode Island we have our very own Harry Potter, and he’s a URI alum! Harry Potter ’80, who has a B.A. in History and Education and an M.S. in Counseling and Family Studies, might not be able to cast spells or battle dragons, but he does have a captive audience of his own as principal of Hope High School in Providence. And he has become somewhat of a celebrity of late. Potter says the instant stardom really hit last summer when he was doing an interview for the Associated Press on an unrelated subject and the reporter asked him about his name. A follow-up story was soon in the works. “I called a couple of kids I know who love Harry Potter, and by the time I sat down with the AP again I was up to date,” says Potter. “Then it hit the papers, New Bedford, Connecticut.” Before Potter knew it, his staff was taking calls from Katie Couric’s producers. “My secretary told me they were on the line, and I just started laughing. I answered the phone, said ‘Hello, Harry Potter,’ and they just started laughing. They loved it.” Soon a crew from Dateline came to town to get to know the “real” Harry Potter. “They followed me everywhere I went,” says Potter. This included the halls of Hope High School and even the Providence Place Mall. “When I used my credit card, they taped the reactions,” recalls Potter with a big chuckle. Finally he flew to New York to sit down with Katie for a tell-all on what life is really like for Harry Potter (Barbara Walters eat your heart out). Potter, who has recounted his tale a few more times for the local media, is taking it all in stride, although he admits right before the movie hit things got pretty crazy. “It was Harry Potter everywhere.” That was okay though, because while he shared the spotlight with his celluloid and literary counterpart, Potter used the opportunity to talk about what he truly loves—being principal of Hope High. He says the opportunity has made for a lot of fun and some joking at school, but his experience has opened the door to reading not only for his school of nearly 1,400 students but for kids and adults everywhere. “The kids are having fun with. They say, ‘this is Harry Potter, our famous principal.’” u Note: As of QUAD ANGLES’ deadline, Potter says he has yet to take in the movie and has only read the first book. And in case you were wondering what the heralded younger Potter has to say about sharing the spotlight, all attempts to reach him were unsuccessful. It seems Hogwarts has an unpublished telephone number. A URI journalism graduate, Jim Beardsworth ’95 is the director of public relations for a North Kingstown based advertising and public relations agency. |
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