A longtime enthusiast of full-size, nontalking trains, Mr. Awdry was involved with several rail preservation groups.

A longtime enthusiast of the fine arts, Luz became involved in many New York area museums and exhibition halls.

Dr. John K. Lattimer, an emeritus professor of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University and a longtime medieval enthusiast, has rounded up students willing to dress in tabards and tights, loose-fitting capes and cone-shaped hats, and the distinctly uncomfortable long-toed shoes known as poulaines.

The Dual Glide chopper was born when a longtime enthusiast and mechanic for all things Harley-Davidson wanted something new.

Mr. Morrison distressed some of his longtime liberal enthusiasts earlier this year when he said that an income-tax on wages - for years a key plank in the progressive agenda - would not be imposed by his administration unless voters approved a specific plan first.

But his brother-in-law, Jim Beloff, is a longtime enthusiast, and he encouraged Mr. Webb to try his skilled hand at making a prototype worthy of true musicians, rather than tourists.

"He must spend the whole day at the gym," marveled Mr. Kordelos, 33, a full-time dramaturge, sometime waiter and longtime enthusiast of the flesh.