Daniel Keyes (August 9, 1927 – June 15, 2014) was an American writer who wrote the novel '' Flowers for Algernon''. Keyes was given the Author Emeritus honor by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2000.

Biography

Early life and career

Keyes was born in New York City, New York. His family was Jewish. He attended New York University briefly before joining the United States Maritime Service at 17, working as a ship's purser on oil tankers. Afterward he returned to New York and in 1950 received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in psychology from

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

. A month after graduation, Keyes joined publisher Martin Goodman's magazine company, Magazine Management. He eventually became an editor of their

pulp magazine Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...

''Marvel Science Stories'' ( cover-dated Nov. 1950 – May 1952) after editor Robert O. Erisman, and began writing for the company's comic-book lines

Atlas Comics Atlas Comics may refer to * Atlas Comics (1950s) Atlas Comics is the 1950s comic book, comic-book publishing label that evolved into Marvel Comics. Magazine and mass market paperback, paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman (publisher), Martin ...

, the 1950s precursors of Marvel Comics. After Goodman ceased publishing pulps in favor of

paperback books A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, lea ...

and men's adventure magazines, Keyes became an associate editor of Atlas under editor-in-chief and

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify th ...

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...

. Circa 1952, Keyes was one of several staff writers, officially titled editors, who wrote for such

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

and science fiction comics as ''Journey into Unknown Worlds'', for which Keyes wrote two stories with artist Basil Wolverton. As Keyes recalled, Goodman offered him a job under Lee after ''Marvel Science Stories'' ceased publication: 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." From 1955 to 1956, Keyes wrote for EC Comics, including its titles ''Shock Illustrated'' and ''Confessions Illustrated'', under both his own name and the pseudonyms Kris Daniels and A.D. Locke.

''Flowers for Algernon''

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. 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 The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...

in 1959 and the

Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...

in 1966 for the story.

Later career

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 Athens is a city and the county seat of Athens County, Ohio. The population was 23,849 at the 2020 census. Located along the Hocking River within Appalachian Ohio about southeast of Columbus, Athens is best known as the home of Ohio Universit ...

, where he was honored as a professor emeritus in 2000.

Death

Keyes died at his home in

Boca Raton Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...

on June 15, 2014, due to complications from pneumonia. His wife Aurea Georgina Vazquez, whom he married in 1952, had died in 2013. They had two daughters.

Awards

Won

* 1960:

for the story " Flowers for Algernon" * 1966:

for the novel '' Flowers for Algernon'' * 1986: Kurd Lasswitz Award for ''

The Minds of Billy Milligan ''The Minds of Billy Milligan'' is a non-fiction novel portraying Billy Milligan, the first person in U.S. history acquitted of a major crime by pleading dissociative identity disorder. The novel was originally published in 1981, written by Hugo ...

'' * 1993: Seiun Award (Non-Fiction of the Year) for ''

'' * 2000: Author Emeritus Award from Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America * 2014: Life Time Award

Nominated

* 1967:

for the novel '' Flowers for Algernon'' * 1982:

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

for Best Fact Crime for ''

'' * 1987: Edgar Award for the American Association of Mystery Writers for ''Unveiling Claudia''

Bibliography

Novels

* '' 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) * ''The Fifth Sally'' (1980) * ''

'' (1981) * ''Unveiling Claudia'' (1986) * ''The Milligan Wars: A True-Story Sequel'' (Japan, 1994) * ''Until Death'' (1998) * ''The Asylum Prophecies'' (2009)

Short fiction

;Collections * ''Daniel Keyes Collected Stories'' (Japan, 1993) ;Stories

Non-fiction

* * Extract from: .

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Keyes, Daniel F. 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 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