First crack at trying a generic TryParse method.

GenericTryParse.cs

public static T TryParse<T>(this string stringToParse) {
            if (typeof(T).HasMethod("TryParse")) {
                var m = typeof(T).GetMethod("TryParse", new Type[] { typeof(string), typeof(T).MakeByRefType() });
                T outParam = Activator.CreateInstance<T>();
                object[] ps = new object[] { stringToParse, outParam };
                bool result = (bool)m.Invoke(null, ps);
                if (result)
                    return (T)ps[1];
            }
            return default(T);
        }