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:

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.