BOZ
Creature Cataloguer
There are two men named Ken Frank whom I believe are probably the same person, but I am wondering if anyone can prove it for sure.
The first Ken Frank I was aware of was a man who did D&D artwork for TSR throughout the 1990s: https://web.archive.org/web/2008121...r.net/rpgdb.php?op=showcreator&creatorid=1342
The other Kenneth C. Frank Sr. appears here in the Social Security Death index: (12/25/1924 – 3/19/1999): https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J16F-CJH and there is a memorial for him on Findagrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/155602620 This man has an obit published on 3/22/1999 in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that shows he was living in West Bend, died 3/19/1999 at the age of 74, wife's maiden name was Ellen Brown, children were Charles Frank and Kenneth Frank Jr., both of West Bend. He had several siblings, including a sister named Helen Bublitz, and he was buried in Washington County Memorial Park. It also confirms that he was a former illustrator for the Milwaukee Journal newspaper, the Mercury Marine company, and different ad agencies including ownership of Draw Partners agency.
The reason I believe these two men are probably the same man is this blog post: http://greyhawkery.blogspot.com/2010/12/greyhawk-art-ken-frank.html to which a man named William Bublitz replied, and said he was a nephew of the Ken Frank who did the Greyhawk artwork near the end of his life, and died in 1999 at age 75, previously worked for Boeing, in the art department of the Milwaukee Journal and Sentinel, before going on to head the art department for Mercury-Marine in Fond Du Lac, WI, retired from there and became a freelance artist, and became involved with TSR, and that he lived in West Bend, WI from 1970 or 1971 until his death.
I do not see a reason to doubt it, that this nephew was lying or mistaken, but being the stickler for verification that I am, it leaves me wondering if we can find a way to prove this connection beyond his recollection. The obit does not mention Boeing nor TSR, but it confirms everything else he said. This text archive mentions an illustration that Ken Frank did for the MJS in 1978: https://archive.org/stream/TwoCenturies/Two-Centuries_djvu.txt although I did not see any MJS illustrations of his online to compare to his D&D art. Can anyone find anything else that links all of this together?
The first Ken Frank I was aware of was a man who did D&D artwork for TSR throughout the 1990s: https://web.archive.org/web/2008121...r.net/rpgdb.php?op=showcreator&creatorid=1342
The other Kenneth C. Frank Sr. appears here in the Social Security Death index: (12/25/1924 – 3/19/1999): https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J16F-CJH and there is a memorial for him on Findagrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/155602620 This man has an obit published on 3/22/1999 in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that shows he was living in West Bend, died 3/19/1999 at the age of 74, wife's maiden name was Ellen Brown, children were Charles Frank and Kenneth Frank Jr., both of West Bend. He had several siblings, including a sister named Helen Bublitz, and he was buried in Washington County Memorial Park. It also confirms that he was a former illustrator for the Milwaukee Journal newspaper, the Mercury Marine company, and different ad agencies including ownership of Draw Partners agency.
The reason I believe these two men are probably the same man is this blog post: http://greyhawkery.blogspot.com/2010/12/greyhawk-art-ken-frank.html to which a man named William Bublitz replied, and said he was a nephew of the Ken Frank who did the Greyhawk artwork near the end of his life, and died in 1999 at age 75, previously worked for Boeing, in the art department of the Milwaukee Journal and Sentinel, before going on to head the art department for Mercury-Marine in Fond Du Lac, WI, retired from there and became a freelance artist, and became involved with TSR, and that he lived in West Bend, WI from 1970 or 1971 until his death.
I do not see a reason to doubt it, that this nephew was lying or mistaken, but being the stickler for verification that I am, it leaves me wondering if we can find a way to prove this connection beyond his recollection. The obit does not mention Boeing nor TSR, but it confirms everything else he said. This text archive mentions an illustration that Ken Frank did for the MJS in 1978: https://archive.org/stream/TwoCenturies/Two-Centuries_djvu.txt although I did not see any MJS illustrations of his online to compare to his D&D art. Can anyone find anything else that links all of this together?
