The Frank Bradley Crist
obituary appeared in the Tribune-Star (tribstar.com) serving Terre Haute, Indiana, Frank's hometown. The guestbook is available to read and leave a message.
Reservoir, Columbia College's Student Life online magazine devotes an issue in memory of Frank.
The writeup is here.
From: Annette Barbier
abarbier@iam.colum.edu
We are greatly saddened by the loss of one of our part time instructors, Frank Crist. Frank was found in his home office Wednesday morning, having passed away during the night on Tuesday. We have no more information at this time.
Frank taught Introduction to Programming and Story Development for Interactive Media. He was also a graduate student in the Fiction Writing department. At one time, he also managed IAM's internship program.
Frank came to Columbia from a successful career in web programming in California. Frank was a seeker. Not content with life in Silicon Valley, he came to Chicago to begin again, in a field closer to his heart, writing. Frank was warm and generous as an instructor and a colleague, and we will miss him.
When we have more information, and when we know when and where services will be held, we will inform students and faculty.
For students who would like to talk to a faculty about Frank, those who knew him best would be happy to see you: Niki Nolin, Mirella Shannon, Wade Roberts and Tom Dowd. Counselors in student services are also available to talk. They can be reached at:
Counseling Services
counselingservices@colum.edu
To schedule an appointment call: 312-344-8700
or stop by their offices at
731 S. Plymouth Court, Main level, suite 112
Fall 2007
Office Hours
Mon-Thurs 9am-8pm
Fridays 9am-5pm
Below is an eloquent and heartfelt memo from Randy Albers, chair of the Fiction Writing department. He has allowed me to share it with you.
October 17, 2007
TO: All Fiction Writing Department Faculty
FROM: Randy Albers, Chair
RE: Sad News
Without doubt, the least favorite aspect of my job is to inform the Fiction Writing Department family about the loss of one of its own. So it is with a very heavy heart that I must tell you that graduate student Frank Crist died yesterday in his office at the apartment he shared with Bobby Biedrzycki. His death has been ruled accidental, but we have no further details.
Certainly, all of us who have known Frank since he began the MFA program have been impressed by his many remarkable talents, including his excellent and distinctive writing as well as his creative work in media. But we could not fail to have also been impressed by easy manner, his wit, and his humane, energetic approach to life.
Among his many accomplishments after coming to our creative writing grad program from a six-year sojourn as a Web programmer in Silicon Valley, Frank was a Weisman Award winner for an anthology of work, 'My Angels and My Demons at War,' which collected writing from twelve students and alums; a member of the Hair Trigger 27 and 28 editorial staffs (in addition to being published in the pages of that magazine); and one of the main creators of UIC's interactive/immersive virtual reality project, 'Special Treatment,' which enabled many, many people to tour the Birkenau camp at Auschwitz during the project's installation at a west side gallery in 2005. More recently, in addition to working diligently on his thesis, he had been teaching in the Interactive Arts & Media Department and was a strong participant in RUI and other reading series.
We will miss Frank Crist in this program, and our hearts go out to his girlfriend Lisa, his family, Bobby, Julia, Max, and all of his other friends, teachers, and fellow travelers in and out of the Fiction Writing Department.
