Rusty McLear

August 25, 2007

Site Staff,

Renaissance Man

There were early indications of what was to come. In his senior year in college, Rusty McLear started a restaurant. Because he only had $1,000 there wasn’t enough money for decorating. The solution? He called the restaurant The Gallery and invited local artists to cover the walls with their artwork. In the years since then, McLear, now 60, has used his considerable entrepreneurial skills to create The Inns & Spa at Mill Falls in Meredith — a complex of upscale inns, restaurants and shops. The development helped spur a renaissance in the historic resort town, though McLear says “the town and townspeople are more responsible than I have been.” His latest restoration project — a new inn in an old mill in Claremont.

New Hampshire Magazine knows where “It” is at. Each November, we identify the state’s most happening people and publish their names and profiles in our annual “It List.”

So what defines an “It” Person?

How about buzz, panache, je ne sais quoi, currency, a person whose time has come, a person of tomorrow, a timeless person, noteworthy, below the radar, in the news, in the know, hot, cool, high impact, slippery, a mover and shaker, a humble saint, a behind-the-scenes operator, a scenery chewer, an unsung hero, a hero who knows how to sing.

It’s a quality that’s hard to define, but you know it when you see it.

Above is one member of the 2006 It List.

To see the entire New Hampshire Magazine It List for 2006, click here.

To make a nomination for the 2007 list (now under development) drop a line to editor@nhmagazine.com.