"Everyone knew him as simply 'Alan', or "Elin" as it is pronounced in Iraqi Arabic. Prior to the war, he owned a music shop in the best area in Baghdad, A'arasat.→[More:] He sold some Arabic music and instrumental music, but he had his regular customers - those westernized Iraqis who craved foreign music. For those of us who listened to rock, adult alternative, jazz, etc. he had very few rivals."

A sad, touching, awful essay/remembrance of the man described in most news accounts simply as Jill Carroll's "translator," who was shot and killed when she (a western journalist) was kidnapped on January 7th. It turns out he ran the best music store in Baghdad, and was a fan through and through. I think he definitely would have fit in here.