I think that you've missed Beth's point here, Dustin Curtis talks about design a lot, whilst the only design work of his that I've seen is an unsolicited redesign of American Airlines (which got somebody fired) and Svbtle. Although there are many very intelligent people who speak about design, they are also practicing designers, i.e. you can see their work.

I struggle to trust somebody who I know very little about. Having such an air of mystery simply leads me to think that the guy is hustling and has become an authority on design by saying that he is so himself, albeit indirectly.

Edit: Cameron's answer cleared everything up for me.

I tend to put my faith in people I know are good designers and not talking heads.