We are sad to announce that Frank passed away on Wednesday, June 4, 2008 at Duke University Hospital in Durham, NC. Fortunately, our whole family arrived in time to say goodbye. We treasure the years we had him with us as he was an amazing husband, father, son, brother, and uncle to us all. Knowing that the long struggle is over for him gives us some measure of comfort. We will miss him dearly but we celebrate his life, his love, his career, his heart.
I stopped reading as much as I used to after graduating high school. Instead of devouring a book every few days, I would spend upwards of a month or more slowly dragging my way through one. It wasn't that I didn't want to read, its just that there were so many other things taking up time in my life. But then one day I discovered unabridged audio books at the library. They allowed me to listen to books while working.
Back then there wasn’t much of selection and I found myself listening to a lot of books I wouldn’t have otherwise been interested in. Up until that point I was really only a fan of fantasy and science fiction stories. But one of the first books I listened to from the library was Presumed Innocent written by John Grisham and read by Frank Muller. I was so drawn into that story by the way Frank read those words. On my next trip to the library I didn’t even look at titles, I just looked at the narrator’s name trying to find more stuff read by Frank. I wasn’t able to find much but it pushed me into looking for more information on “Recorded Books Inc.” and “Books on Tape,” two companies that rented audio books on cassette by mail. I have been devouring books again ever since.
The artwork for many early computer games that came out of Westwood Studios (then Westwood Associates) were created while listening to those books. Hillsfar, Eye of the Beholder, Kyrandia, and the original Command & Conquer all have a little of Frank Muller in them.
Just last year I re-listened to the first few books in The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. I remember listening to the first book in that series when it was first published which was read by Steven King. I had never finished the series, and still haven’t although I have gotten much further and do have the next book already. But the thing that got me to download them from Audible was that I noticed the first few were read by Frank Muller. Nice story Stephen and I agree there is some value to having the story read by the author, but Frank Muller pwn’ed you. He just took that story to the next level.
Stephen King himself said this of Frank, “When Frank reads, the blind will see, the lame will walk, and the deaf will hear."
The horrible news came in 2001. Just after learning that his wife was pregnant with their second child, Frank lost control of his motorcycle on the freeway. He sustained multiple fractures, lacerations and abrasions, and went into cardiac arrest three times. He also suffered severe head trauma, which was subsequently diagnosed as Diffuse Axonal Injury. Frank survived but due to this brain condition was no longer able to work and required very expensive ongoing medical care. On Wednesday, June 4, 2008 Frank passed away. I didn’t even know him and I miss him greatly.
You can read more about Frank Muller, his career, and his family at www.frankmullerhome.com. There is even a short video there of some of Frank’s acting work, one of which was a McDonald’s commercial I remember from when I was a kid.
Audible.com has posted this article and has even put together a free 15 minute montage of some of Frank’s recordings.
Thank you Frank.
