Daniel Keyes

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.<ref name="sfwa140617"/>

Biography

Early life and career

Keyes was born in New York City, New York.<ref name=playsofbook/> His family was Jewish.<ref>The National Jewish Monthly, B'nai B'rith, vol. 82-83 (1967), p. 172</ref><ref>Research Studies, Washington State University, vol. 40 (1972), p. 53</ref> He attended New York University briefly before joining the United States Maritime Service at 17, working as a ship's purser on oil tankers.<ref name=playsofbook /> Afterward he returned to New York and in 1950 received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Brooklyn College.<ref name=playsofbook />

A month after graduation, Keyes joined publisher Martin Goodman's magazine company, Magazine Management.<ref name=playsofbook /> He eventually became an editor of their pulp magazine Marvel Science Stories<ref name="budrys196608">Template:Cite magazine</ref> (cover-dated Nov. 1950 – May 1952) after editor Robert O. Erisman,<ref name="tran06"/> 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<ref name="sfwa140617"/> 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.<ref name=gcd />

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."<ref name=autobiop79-80/>

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.<ref name=gcd/>

Flowers for Algernon

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} 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.<ref name="nyt140617"/> 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.<ref name="sfwa140617"/><ref name="wapo140618"/>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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, where he was honored as a professor emeritus in 2000.Template:R<ref name="wint03"/><ref name="ohio02"/>

Death

Keyes died at his home in Boca Raton on June 15, 2014, due to complications from pneumonia.<ref name="nyt140617"/><ref name="wapo140618"/><ref name="loc140617"/><ref name="star140618"/> His wife Aurea Georgina Vazquez, whom he married in 1952, had died on May 14, 2013.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> They had two daughters.<ref name="nyt140617"/>

Awards

Won

• 1960: Hugo Award for the story "Flowers for Algernon"<ref name="hugo60"/>
• 1966: Nebula Award for the novel Flowers for Algernon<ref name="sfwa140617"/>
• 1986: Kurd Lasswitz Award for The Minds of Billy Milligan<ref name="kurd01"/>
• 1993: Seiun Award (Non-Fiction of the Year) for The Minds of Billy Milligan<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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

Nominated

• 1967: Hugo Award for the novel Flowers for Algernon<ref name="hugo67"/>
• 1982: Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime for The Minds of Billy Milligan<ref name="eddb"/>
• 1987: Edgar Award for the American Association of Mystery Writers for Unveiling Claudia<ref name="eddb"/>

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)<ref name="locus9706"/>
• The Fifth Sally (1980)<ref name="locus9706"/>
• The Minds of Billy Milligan (1981)<ref>(film adaptation unproduced Template:As of) 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. Template:As of, the film remains in limbo [1] and its IMDb entry ({{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}) has been deleted.</ref>

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

Short fiction

Title	Year	First published	Reprinted/collected	Notes
Flowers for Algernon	1959	Template:Cite journal	Template:Cite journal	Expanded as a novel, 1966.

Collections

• Daniel Keyes Collected Stories (Japan, 1993)

Non-fiction

• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite journal<ref>Extract from: Template:Cite book.</ref>

External links

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