Rick Lewis was among Audible’s very first employees, joining the company in 1996 following a storied career in public radio. He is also the voice behind the two iconic phrases “This is Audible” and “Audible hopes you have enjoyed this program.”
Like everyone in those early Audible days, Lewis did a little of everything, from content acquisition to user testing. One day, he sat down to record the 10 words that would ensure his anonymous fame. These words, in his voice, have become so beloved to countless listeners, signaling both the start of a new journey and the satisfaction of finishing a great story. Many have expressed their appreciation on social media with comments like “Does anyone else avoid turning off a book a few seconds early, specifically to hear this?”
Our hearts broke when Rick Lewis unexpectedly passed away in 2019. Before his tenure at Audible, Lewis worked at NPR as an executive producer of All Things Considered and helped develop Morning Edition. He managed stations and networks in Minnesota, California, and Iowa, was a fundraising executive in Florida, and led business development efforts in East Asia for an international satellite broadcasting company. He retired in 2012, most recently living in a 17th-century hacienda in the Andes of Ecuador, about 10 miles from the equator.
Lewis had the heart of an adventurer and once described himself as “a sometime world traveler, cook, camper, photographer, and compulsive essayist.” An Iowa native, he spent stints living in Southern California, New Jersey, Minnesota, Washington DC, Florida, Nicaragua, and Ecuador.
