Maybe you could do something like this:
<?php $curauth = (isset($_GET['author_name'])) ? get_user_by('slug', $author_name) : get_userdata(intval($author));
query_posts('post_type=post&showposts=5&author='.$curauth->ID.''); ?>
<?php if ( have_posts() ) : while ( have_posts() ) : the_post(); ?>
<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link: <?php the_title(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a>
<?php endwhile; else: ?>
<?php endif; ?>