Fred's uncle — Phil's older brother, and the firstborn of Gram and Gramp.
Alan was born in San Francisco in 1937 and lived there most of his life, moving out to Walnut Creek for his last fifteen years. He married Carol, a flight attendant — they met at a family gathering in San Felipe — and they had a daughter, Stephanie, who, like Fred, goes to Burning Man.
Alan was a photographer, both professionally and as a hobby: he spent most of his career as the corporate photographer for PG&E. He was out shooting the 1967 Summer of Love in San Francisco — but those photos are lost, and no one in the family has been able to find them.
He’s the source of a small piece of family heritage: Uncle Alan's Waffles, a real San Francisco sourdough recipe the family shared along with a living batch of starter.
When Fred passed through San Francisco on his 2004 trip north, Uncle Alan, Aunt Carol, and cousin Stephanie had him over for a clam-and-mussel linguine dinner — and waffles in the morning.
Alan died in 2021; the family gathered for his memorial at Lake Arrowhead that June.