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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."

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on September 24, 2001.