Boston Spirit’s Top 25 LGBT Power Players of New England for 2015

Esmond Harmsworth
Literary Agent and Philanthropist
There’s nothing like a man of letters when it comes to influence. But how about a man of letters who represents other notable raconteurs—and just happens to be a philanthropist on the side? Esmond Harmsworth has been involved in LGBTQ activism since college and, through a private foundation, is a donor to most leading community groups, as well a deeply involved political donor and activist.
A founding partner of the Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency, Harmsworth was born in London, he was educated in England before graduating magna cum laude from Brown University and cum laude from Harvard Law School. Today he is one of the leading U.S. literary agents for business books and books on education; he also represents books on topics such as politics, psychology, culture, literary food writing and novels.
His clients are numerous New York Times bestselling authors and prize-winners such as Sabina Murray, David Rothkopf, Adam Lashinsky, Erin Arvedlund, Jedediah Berry, Keith Ferrazzi, R. Keith Sawyer, Tony Wagner, Amanda Ripley, Josh Linkner and Michelle Hoover.
Nevermind his esteemed, clients, Harmsworth himself has been a featured panelist or speaker at, among others, the Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism, the national conference of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Boston Book Festival, and the Iowa Writer’s Workshop.
He has been a board member, trustee or advisor at many arts, cultural and political organizations, including PEN/New England, Grub Street, the Southern New Hampshire MFA program, the Boston Foundation LGBT Advisory Committee, the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), the Boston Center for the Arts, the Redwood Library (Newport, RI), MassEquality and the Harvard AIDS Institute. And he’s engaged to his fiancé Jérôme Buet.
Whew!
Chris Harris
Nightlife Promoter & Club Owner
Chris Harris really does think he’s a god. Okay, we’ll give it to him.
For the club set, the promoter/club owner has been turning water to wine in New England for nearly 15 years, single-handedly keeping the local scene alive at a time when the mirror ball, in most cities, is the relic of a bygone era.
Whether you’re gay or straight, if you have a penchant for nightlife and live within, say, a million miles of the Boston/Providence corridor, chances are you’ve been touched by Chris Harris and his cabal, Chris Harris Presents, a mainstay of the New England (and beyond) club scene.
Aptly, when he started his most recent venue in Providence in 2013, he named it Club Ego (ostensibly after his most endearing quality).
“We’ve bucked all the trends and know how to deliver an impressive line up of talent by knowing our audience,” says Harris who is the probably the only club owner/promoter who would ever take a gamble on A-list entertainment the likes of DJ Abel, Hector Fonseca, Richie Santana.
But, he says, he also knows that club-goers in Boston don’t always need a headliner—they just need energy.
Today, that energy is flowing through whichever room Harris thinks he can fill—and his instincts are usually spot on.