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Bio (Edited)
Born: April 10
An accidental actor (e.g., Forrest Gump) with a weakness for bungee jumping, skydiving, and nipple piercing, Frederick Gundling has attended a White House ceremony hosted by President Reagan, faked his own death to avoid attending his high school reunion, gotten married in Vegas, spent nearly a month in a mental hospital after a failed suicide attempt at Disney World, and passed himself off as Keanu Reeves. His research for DISCONNECTED, a darkly funny thriller about a man who wants to-and has every reason to-assassinate the president, included confirming that his own great-great grandfather was arrested in connection with the conspiracy to assassinate President Lincoln.
Although nothing compares to the stress of landing a book deal, Frederick has also been stabbed, shot at with an AK-47, set on fire, spat on, survived beatings in mosh pits, seen people struck by lightning, joined a Kabala study group (ca. 1992) to impress a hot goth girl, been rescued at age ten from drowning in the Atlantic Ocean, lost his virginity to a lesbian, petted a Siberian tiger, failed to recognize Uma Thurman while chatting with her, had several feet of his intestines and colon removed due to Crohn's disease, and been chased through an abandoned nuclear missile base by Maryland State Police officers.
It's also true that Frederick was buried alive after the collapse of a series of underground tunnels inspired by Hogan's Heroes. (However, the less said about the backyard concentration camp, the better.)
Even prior to the publication of his first novel, his website draws thousands of visitors from around the globe every month, and his writing has already attracted the attention of Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker, and Stephen King. He has made headlines auctioning off the names of minor characters, announcing plans to conduct the first-ever book signing at the North Pole, and putting Strom Thurmond's eternal soul up for sale on eBay.
In addition to writing fiction, Frederick is/was the executive editor of the now-defunct Washington Obfuscator, (sample headline: Man Mistakenly Pays $68,700 for Mary-Kate Olsen's Hyphen on eBay), a satirical news website rooted in the late 1980s but formally launched in late 2003 and named after the fictionalized version of The Washington Post in Disconnected. (After blossoming into a massive black hole of time-suckage with approximately $50 in annual advertising revenue, contrasted with $60 in annual operating costs, the paper was shut down in 2006.)
A writer since age ten, Frederick wrote and edited 15 collections of fiction, poetry and articles released by his vanity press, Intestines Publications, between 1987 and 1998. He is also known for a copyright-infringing series of obscene Family Circus cartoons. In 1992, Frederick graduated from Frostburg State University, located in the isolated, frigid mountains of Western Maryland, after majoring in English with a minor in history. In May of 1989 he began working for The Washington Post as a copy aide. In 1992 he advanced to online editor, editing, indexing and publishing the online and archival editions of the paper. After nearly a decade working alongside the likes of Katharine Graham, Ben Bradlee and Bob Woodward, Frederick resigned in June of 1998 to write fiction fulltime.
For most of the nineties, Frederick lived a block from the Washington Hilton in downtown D.C., where Reagan was shot. He went to hundreds of alternative rock concerts in D.C. clubs, seeing bands such as Nirvana, Ministry, and Fugazi, occasionally hanging out backstage with them because of his friendship with the manager of the legendary 9:30 Club. Partly because he had long hair, Frederick was cast as a Vietnam War protester in Forrest Gump, where he appeared alongside Tom Hanks and Robin Wright. He was later cast in Washington Square and Oliver Stone's Nixon, but did not appear in either movie due to illness and shooting schedule changes.
The award-winning author was born in Prince George's County, Maryland but grew up in Waldorf, a semi-suburban, semi-rural town about 30 miles southeast of Washington, D.C. His mother, a former Park Police officer, runs the office of a federal judge a block from the White House. His father retired in 2002 as vice president of a Maryland printing company.
In July of 1997, Frederick got married at the Graceland Chapel in Las Vegas. His wife, a former Peace Corps volunteer in the Ivory Coast, is originally from West Texas. They reside west of the Mississippi and east of Alcatraz with their Chihuahuas, Moby and Mini.
Fast Facts:
* Preferred name: Frederick
* Usually called: Fred
* May only be called by wife: Freddie
Hobbies:
* Riding the world's fastest, highest roller coasters
* Contemplating the endless abyss from which all life is spawned and to which it inevitably returns
* Collecting personally autographed books from a diverse bunch of writers including Clive Barker, Berke Breathed, Jimmy Carter, Roseanne, Ethan Hawke, and P.J. O'Rourke
Yes, it's true:
* Frederick faked his own death in 1993 to avoid attending his high school reunion, much to the surprise of his stepsister, who received condolences all evening.
* He is a cousin of Tex/John/Jason Ritter, and a descendant of William Wallace (Mel Gibson's character in Braveheart), and the royal family that ruled the duchy of Brabant, Belgium during the Middle Ages.
* He has brown hair that is sometimes very short, sometimes very long, and occasionally blue, black, blond or red. He's been told he looks like Keanu Reeves and "a better-looking version of Trent Reznor."
* Due to a lifetime of nail biting, his fingernails stop half an inch from his fingertips.
* In 1990, he had part of his intestines and colon removed due to Crohn's disease. Keeps them in jar on desk.
* Shares same birthday as Forrest Gump costar Haley Joel Osment.
* Prized possession: personally signed letter from Ann Landers.
Heroes: Stormy Waters
An accidental actor (e.g., Forrest Gump) with a weakness for bungee jumping, skydiving, and nipple piercing, Frederick Gundling has attended a White House ceremony hosted by President Reagan, faked his own death to avoid attending his high school reunion, gotten married in Vegas, spent nearly a month in a mental hospital after a failed suicide attempt at Disney World, and passed himself off as Keanu Reeves. His research for DISCONNECTED, a darkly funny thriller about a man who wants to-and has every reason to-assassinate the president, included confirming that his own great-great grandfather was arrested in connection with the conspiracy to assassinate President Lincoln.
Although nothing compares to the stress of landing a book deal, Frederick has also been stabbed, shot at with an AK-47, set on fire, spat on, survived beatings in mosh pits, seen people struck by lightning, joined a Kabala study group (ca. 1992) to impress a hot goth girl, been rescued at age ten from drowning in the Atlantic Ocean, lost his virginity to a lesbian, petted a Siberian tiger, failed to recognize Uma Thurman while chatting with her, had several feet of his intestines and colon removed due to Crohn's disease, and been chased through an abandoned nuclear missile base by Maryland State Police officers.
It's also true that Frederick was buried alive after the collapse of a series of underground tunnels inspired by Hogan's Heroes. (However, the less said about the backyard concentration camp, the better.)
Even prior to the publication of his first novel, his website draws thousands of visitors from around the globe every month, and his writing has already attracted the attention of Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker, and Stephen King. He has made headlines auctioning off the names of minor characters, announcing plans to conduct the first-ever book signing at the North Pole, and putting Strom Thurmond's eternal soul up for sale on eBay.
In addition to writing fiction, Frederick is/was the executive editor of the now-defunct Washington Obfuscator, (sample headline: Man Mistakenly Pays $68,700 for Mary-Kate Olsen's Hyphen on eBay), a satirical news website rooted in the late 1980s but formally launched in late 2003 and named after the fictionalized version of The Washington Post in Disconnected. (After blossoming into a massive black hole of time-suckage with approximately $50 in annual advertising revenue, contrasted with $60 in annual operating costs, the paper was shut down in 2006.)
A writer since age ten, Frederick wrote and edited 15 collections of fiction, poetry and articles released by his vanity press, Intestines Publications, between 1987 and 1998. He is also known for a copyright-infringing series of obscene Family Circus cartoons. In 1992, Frederick graduated from Frostburg State University, located in the isolated, frigid mountains of Western Maryland, after majoring in English with a minor in history. In May of 1989 he began working for The Washington Post as a copy aide. In 1992 he advanced to online editor, editing, indexing and publishing the online and archival editions of the paper. After nearly a decade working alongside the likes of Katharine Graham, Ben Bradlee and Bob Woodward, Frederick resigned in June of 1998 to write fiction fulltime.
For most of the nineties, Frederick lived a block from the Washington Hilton in downtown D.C., where Reagan was shot. He went to hundreds of alternative rock concerts in D.C. clubs, seeing bands such as Nirvana, Ministry, and Fugazi, occasionally hanging out backstage with them because of his friendship with the manager of the legendary 9:30 Club. Partly because he had long hair, Frederick was cast as a Vietnam War protester in Forrest Gump, where he appeared alongside Tom Hanks and Robin Wright. He was later cast in Washington Square and Oliver Stone's Nixon, but did not appear in either movie due to illness and shooting schedule changes.
The award-winning author was born in Prince George's County, Maryland but grew up in Waldorf, a semi-suburban, semi-rural town about 30 miles southeast of Washington, D.C. His mother, a former Park Police officer, runs the office of a federal judge a block from the White House. His father retired in 2002 as vice president of a Maryland printing company.
In July of 1997, Frederick got married at the Graceland Chapel in Las Vegas. His wife, a former Peace Corps volunteer in the Ivory Coast, is originally from West Texas. They reside west of the Mississippi and east of Alcatraz with their Chihuahuas, Moby and Mini.
Fast Facts:
* Preferred name: Frederick
* Usually called: Fred
* May only be called by wife: Freddie
Hobbies:
* Riding the world's fastest, highest roller coasters
* Contemplating the endless abyss from which all life is spawned and to which it inevitably returns
* Collecting personally autographed books from a diverse bunch of writers including Clive Barker, Berke Breathed, Jimmy Carter, Roseanne, Ethan Hawke, and P.J. O'Rourke
Yes, it's true:
* Frederick faked his own death in 1993 to avoid attending his high school reunion, much to the surprise of his stepsister, who received condolences all evening.
* He is a cousin of Tex/John/Jason Ritter, and a descendant of William Wallace (Mel Gibson's character in Braveheart), and the royal family that ruled the duchy of Brabant, Belgium during the Middle Ages.
* He has brown hair that is sometimes very short, sometimes very long, and occasionally blue, black, blond or red. He's been told he looks like Keanu Reeves and "a better-looking version of Trent Reznor."
* Due to a lifetime of nail biting, his fingernails stop half an inch from his fingertips.
* In 1990, he had part of his intestines and colon removed due to Crohn's disease. Keeps them in jar on desk.
* Shares same birthday as Forrest Gump costar Haley Joel Osment.
* Prized possession: personally signed letter from Ann Landers.
Heroes: Stormy Waters