"never done anything of note"
I could not agree more. He has, for 20+ years produced the most consistently crap adventure modules/books/magazines/materials I have encountered since 1977. I have no clue how he ended up being the most prolific adventure writer since WOTC bought TSR or what people see in him in this regard.
The same thing they see in McDonald's hamburgers: Perkins's output has always been only relative crap. That is, it's never exactly good, but it never goes into "horrible, greasy diner with rats in the kitchen" territory, either. If you work with it, you can use it as filler. And it is consistently produced. Hell, I ran a few of his Dungeon adventures. After the first couple, they were very easy to adapt because I knew where the problems would be. It's easy: Scan the adventure, make a few notes, toss about half of it entirely, replace a few things that are bland with a better version, and then riff off the rest. Treat it like a prototype instead of a finished product. But that only works once you suffer through the exercise once or twice.
With Perkins, there is just enough there to make you think it might get better over time or with a second look.
Of course the mob was going to turn on him. There is nothing there to make a more firm association.