Frank Cole

Frank Cole (1954 – 2000) was a Canadian filmmaker who became the first North American to cross the Sahara alone on camel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, in 1990. This voyage earned Cole an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records. His documentary Life Without Death chronicled his experience and won him several awards as well as being released theatrically in Paris. Cole was murdered by bandits near Timbuktu, Mali, in late October 2000.

Early life and career Born in Saskatchewan to a New Brunswick father from the diplomatic field and a lawyer mother. Cole grew up in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland and South Africa. A well-educated traveller, he studied languages at Carleton University and later film production at Algonquin College in Ottawa. His films include A Documentary (1979), The Mountenays (1981), A Life (1986) and Life Without Death (2000).

1990 journey across the Sahara Cole managed to cross the Sahara Desert alone on camel, the first North American to do so. The journey took more than 11 months and covered 7,300 km, Cole travelled through Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and Sudan, often passing through civil or tribal war zones, his journey ending at the Red Sea. Cole earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records. Footage from this journey was used in his critically acclaimed documentary Life Without Death.