This is Alan Fraser, an old friend from the newsgroup rec.music.dylan, which I was once heavily involved in but have long abandoned (it got too creepy.) It was Alan who answered the first question I ever posted there, around 1998, seeking track information for an import Dylan collection called Masterpieces. Alan is the world's foremost authority on Dylan rarities -- officially released but rare or obscure recordings. Here's a link to his invaluable web site database:

Searching For A Gem

Alan is also a fan of sci-fi and has passed along a lot of great book recommendations in that genre. I never knew what Alan looked like until he sent this picture -- he lives in England -- but I imagined his jovial smile almost exactly . . . it's just there in what he writes, in his cheerful helpfulness. He was the guy on the newsgroup who always answered the question of a first-time poster with good-natured seriousness, even if it was a question that had been asked a million times before.