Looks like my pam_recent module is actually used by others out there and liked as well. For a maker/hacker/tinkerer like me that's very satisfying, especially considering the source of the most recent comment/suggestion.

Self-aggrandizement aside, there's a slightly updated version of pam_recent.c (v1.6) available, which uses pam_syslog and thus creates different syslog entries (for those of you using logcheck).