Yeah. I wonder if any of those who pushed so long and hard for this explanation of things will now have the cojones to step up and say “Gee, guess I was being a little silly, wasn’t I?”
And not to belabor the obvious, but we also now have an explanation for Johnny’s absence in the original photo as posted — he was on the other side of the fold!
SUCCESS!
Well done, Vashbul!
Seeing Johnny on the page opposite was almost as satisfying as getting the name of the mystery man.
It definitely had enough drama.
About friggin’ time.
Congrats.
Been tracking this thread. An SDMB Classic, to be sure. Well done on the disciplined research - and well done, Vashbul!
This is awesome. Thanks Vashbul!
I was to the point of accepting that we’d never actually get a definitive answer. I am thrilled to be wrong.
This thread is now officially LEGEND!
There are giants in these days. Vashbul walks among us!
Oh. My. God. It’s Mr. Traina from the lake. They used to stay in the Brown’s house at Little Squam. I can’t believe it. I haven’t seen those people for at least 35 years. I can’t believe my brain registered it at all.
I have to go call my Dad.
*I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, but I hated that guy.
Oh come on TruCelt. You can’t leave that hanging there. What’s the scoop?
Well done, ** Vashbul**.
It only means I was right…
I was also,right about who it turned out to be, which I concluded precisely because I have such faith in this place:
Ditto. This thread should definitely be held up as a classic example of Dopitude. Cecil needs to award the medal to Vashbul for embodying the Dope ethos…
Interesting…in #2 he recalls another Italian, Daniel J. Travanti.
When I teach my introduction to computers class, this is one of the reason I bring up the Straight Dope all the time. Something that Facebook or Google can’t do - make connections with people who either know the answer, or dig to find the answer. Thanks Vashbul!
“But first - the Traina.” 
So…Richman wasn’t lying, it really isn’t him. 
This is now my favorite thread ever, replacing by a wide margin the lying wheelchair girl.
Wow. I’ve enjoyed this thread immensely. Thanks to everybody and most especially to Vashbul. Way to go!
He does look a lot like that Richman dude (but with kinder eyes), doesn’t he?
Nice. My first thought was the guy who married Danielle Steele - I think his name was John Traina. I remember his name because when I lived in San Francisco, I’d drive by their house, the old Spreckels mansion, which people were then referring to as the Steele-Traina mansion until she divorced him…