Daniel Keyes
Daniel Keyes | |
|---|---|
 Daniel Keyes | |
| Born | August 9, 1927 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | June 15, 2014 (aged 86) Boca Raton, Florida, U.S. |
| Occupation | Fiction writer |
| Alma mater | New York University Brooklyn College |
| Period | 1952–2014 |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Notable works | Flowers for Algernon (1959) The Minds of Billy Milligan (1981) |
| Notable awards | Hugo Award (1960) Nebula Award (1966) Kurd Lasswitz Award (1986) Seiun Award (1993) |
| Spouse | Aurea Georgina Vazquez |
| Website | |
| www | |
Daniel Keyes (August 9, 1927 – June 15, 2014) was an American writer best known as the author of the novel Flowers for Algernon. Keyes was given the Author Emeritus honor by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2000.[1]
Biography
[edit | edit source]Early life and career
[edit | edit source]Keyes was born in New York City, New York.[2] His family was Jewish.[3][4] He attended New York University briefly before joining the United States Maritime Service at 17, working as a ship's purser on oil tankers.[2] Afterward he returned to New York and in 1950 received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Brooklyn College.[2]
A month after graduation, Keyes joined publisher Martin Goodman's magazine company, Magazine Management.[2] He eventually became an editor of their pulp magazine Marvel Science Stories[5] (cover-dated Nov. 1950 – May 1952) after editor Robert O. Erisman,[6] and began writing for the company's comic-book lines Atlas Comics, the 1950s precursors of Marvel Comics. After Goodman ceased publishing pulps in favor of paperback books and men's adventure magazines, Keyes became an associate editor of Atlas[1] under editor-in-chief and art director Stan Lee. Circa 1952, Keyes was one of several staff writers, officially titled editors, who wrote for such horror and science fiction comics as Journey into Unknown Worlds, for which Keyes wrote two stories with artist Basil Wolverton.[7]
As Keyes recalled, Goodman offered him a job under Lee after Marvel Science Stories ceased publication:
Since my $17.25-a-month rent was almost due, I accepted what I considered a detour on my journey toward a literary career. Stan Lee ... let his editors deal with the scriptwriters, cartoonists, and lettering crew. Writers turned in plot synopses, Stan read them, and as a matter of course, would accept one or two from each of the regulars he referred to as his "stable." As one of his front men, I would pass along comments and criticism. ... Because of my experience editing Marvel and because I'd sold a few science fiction stories by then, Stan allowed me to specialize in the horror, fantasy, suspense, and science fiction comic books. Naturally, I began submitting story ideas, getting freelance assignment, and supplementing my salary by writing scripts on my own time.[8]
One story idea Keyes wrote but did not submit to Lee was called "Brainstorm", the paragraph-long synopsis that would evolve into Flowers for Algernon. It begins: "The first guy in the test to raise the I.Q. from a low normal 90 to genius level ... He goes through the experience and then is thrown back to what was." Keyes recalled, "something told me it should be more than a comic book script."[8]
From 1955 to 1956, Keyes wrote for EC Comics, including its titles Psychoanalysis, Shock Illustrated, and Confessions Illustrated, under both his own name and the pseudonyms Kris Daniels and A.D. Locke.[7]
Flowers for Algernon
[edit | edit source]The short story and subsequent novel, Flowers for Algernon, is written as progress reports of a mentally disabled man, Charlie, who undergoes experimental surgery and briefly becomes a genius before the effects tragically wear off. The story was initially published in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and the expanded novel in 1966.[9] The novel has been adapted several times for other media, most prominently as the 1968 film Charly, starring Cliff Robertson (who won an Academy Award for Best Actor) and Claire Bloom. Keyes also won the Hugo Award in 1959 and the Nebula Award in 1966 for the story.[1][10]
The inspiration for Flowers for Algernon came from Keyes's experiences as a teacher. When he was teaching at a high school, he taught both mentally gifted and challenged students. One particular experience with a boy in his mentally challenged class sparked the inspiration to begin writing Flowers for Algernon. He was wondering what would happen if it was possible for a person to gain intelligence.[11]
Later career
[edit | edit source]Keyes taught creative writing at Wayne State University, and in 1966 he became an English and creative writing professor at Ohio University, in Athens, Ohio, where he was honored as a professor emeritus in 2000.[5][12][13]
Death
[edit | edit source]Keyes died at his home in Boca Raton on June 15, 2014, due to complications from pneumonia.[9][10][14][15] His wife Aurea Georgina Vazquez, whom he married in 1952, had died on May 14, 2013.[16] They had two daughters.[9]
Awards
[edit | edit source]Won
[edit | edit source]- 1960: Hugo Award for the story "Flowers for Algernon"[17]
- 1966: Nebula Award for the novel Flowers for Algernon[1]
- 1986: Kurd Lasswitz Award for The Minds of Billy Milligan[18]
- 1993: Seiun Award (Non-Fiction of the Year) for The Minds of Billy Milligan[19]
- 2000: Author Emeritus Award from Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
Nominated
[edit | edit source]- 1967: Hugo Award for the novel Flowers for Algernon[20]
- 1982: Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime for The Minds of Billy Milligan[21]
- 1987: Edgar Award for the American Association of Mystery Writers for Unveiling Claudia[21]
- 2001: Locus Award for Best Non-fiction for Algernon, Charlie and I: A Writer's Journey
Bibliography
[edit | edit source]Novels
[edit | edit source]- Flowers for Algernon (novel, 1966) adapted for cinema as Charly, 1968, and as Flowers for Algernon, 2000
- The Touch (1968; re-edited and published as The Contaminated Man, 1977)[22]
- The Fifth Sally (1980)[22]
- Until Death (1998)
- The Asylum Prophecies (2009)
Short fiction
[edit | edit source]| Title | Year | First published | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Precedent" | 1952 | Marvel Science Fiction, Vol. 3, No. 6 | |
| "Robot Unwanted" | Other Worlds, #19 | ||
| "Something Borrowed" | Fantastic Story, Vol. 4, #1 | ||
| "The Trouble With Elmo" | 1958 | Galaxy, XVI, 4 | |
| "Flowers for Algernon" | 1959 | Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). | Expanded as a novel, 1966. |
| "Crazy Maro" | 1960 | The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Vol. 18, 4 | Paired with the essay "What Do Characters Cost?" |
| "The Quality of Mercy" | IF, Vol. X, 5 | ||
| "A Jury of its Peers" | 1963 | Worlds of Tomorrow, Vol. 1, No. 3 | |
| "Spellbinder" | 1967 | North American Review, Vol. 4 No. 4 | |
| "Mama's Girl" | 1993 | Daniel Keyes Collected Stories |
Collections
[edit | edit source]Non-fiction
[edit | edit source]- The Minds of Billy Milligan (1981)[24]
- Unveiling Claudia (1986)
- The Milligan Wars: A True-Story Sequel (Hayakawa, 1994)
- Algernon, Charlie and I: A Writer's Journey (Challcrest Press, 2000)
References
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- ^ The National Jewish Monthly, B'nai B'rith, vol. 82-83 (1967), p. 172
- ^ Research Studies, Washington State University, vol. 40 (1972), p. 53
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- ^ (film adaptation unproduced as of August 2014[update]) The film adaptation of The Minds of Billy Milligan, originally announced as A Crowded Room (under James Cameron) then as The Crowded Room (under Joel Schumacher), was at some point announced for 2008, but did not materialize. As of August 2014[update], the film remains in limbo [1] and its IMDb entry (Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).) has been deleted.
External links
[edit | edit source]- Keyes speech on YouTube
Quotations related to Daniel Keyes at Wikiquote- Daniel Keyes at IMDb
- Daniel F. Keyes at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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- 1927 births
- 2014 deaths
- 20th-century American male writers
- 20th-century American novelists
- 20th-century American short story writers
- 21st-century American male writers
- 21st-century American non-fiction writers
- 21st-century American novelists
- 21st-century American short story writers
- American comics writers
- American magazine editors
- American male non-fiction writers
- American male novelists
- American male short story writers
- American military personnel of World War II
- American psychological fiction writers
- 20th-century American sailors
- American science fiction writers
- Brooklyn College alumni
- Deaths from pneumonia in Florida
- EC Comics
- Hugo Award–winning writers
- Jewish American novelists
- Marvel Comics people
- Military personnel from New York City
- Military personnel from New York (state)
- Nebula Award winners
- Novelists from Michigan
- Novelists from New York (state)
- Novelists from Ohio
- Ohio University faculty
- The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction people
- Wayne State University faculty
- Writers from Brooklyn
- United States Merchant Mariners
- United States Merchant Mariners of World War II