Frederick Kirchhoff

A native Floridian, Kirchhoff went to school in New England and for many, perhaps too many, years taught literature at a state university in Indiana. Secretive by nature, he is rumored to be living in Portland, Oregon, where he is said to frequent plays and performances of a musical nature. He has never visited Guam, Alaska, or the Maritime Provinces of Canada; he has few friends and no pets; and he enjoys gazing out the windows of airplanes. Also, he was once heard muttering the phrase "animals for eating, vegetables for companionship." Aside from these tantalizing facts, little else is known about the man.

Quite possibly he is one of the figures in the attached photograph, but which of the two is unclear. Equally obscure is the connection between the photo and the novels in "The Emperor's Library," although there appears to be one.