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From Sinatra to Windows

John F. Puckett's father, back in the 60's, had been a Marine drill sergeant, and Mr. Puckett was a long-haired hippie musician, so their home life, in Las Vegas, was not always tranquil. There was, on the other hand, a constantly changing group of show business players in Las Vegas, which is a good thing for an audio engineer. That came to be Mr. Puckett's line, and he was good at it. His family said there are gold records by Frank Sinatra, B. B. King and Johnny Mathis that list Mr. Puckett as the recording engineer."Don't mention Sinatra," Mr. Puckett used to say. "It makes me sound old."He was 47, tall and lanky, and lived in Glen Cove, N.Y. with Regina Bogan, an office manager, and their four children. He had a Harley and a Chrysler LeBaron convertible and liked going on day trips with Ms. Bogan to Lake George; freewheeling trips on the bike where he was always the lead, though he never knew where he was going. He had a band that played locally, and he worked frequently for Windows on the World, setting up the sound system for conferences. There were no final messages from the audio man after the attack. The last time Ms. Bogan saw him, they were having morning coffee.Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on September 29, 2001.