The name was familiar but I couldn't put a finger on who he was until I saw him on MSNBC this morning, commenting on the earthquake. Ah, so THAT's the guy.

I had never heard of him until I saw a TV program on Discovery Channel(?) that featured him last year. But that was a show about our surveillance society and privacy issues. I don't know about his bona fides regarding preparedness, but I was certainly impressed that I learned some new things in that hour that I did not know before, and I think I'm pretty current on privacy issues. So, someone had done their homework, I think

That said, he seems to have this very intense persona (but maybe he's a real teddy bear in real life), so I think you either love him or hate him. I definitely wouldn't expect to see him kicking back and playing the harmonica like Les.