Daniel Keyes

Quality 0.50 · 2 views · Updated 2 months ago

American author (1927–2014)

title: "Daniel Keyes" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["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"] description: "American author (1927–2014)" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Keyes" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American author (1927–2014) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox writer"]

FieldValue
imageDaniel keyes 2.jpg
nameDaniel Keyes
captionDaniel Keyes
birth_date
birth_placeNew York City, U.S.
death_date
death_placeBoca Raton, Florida, U.S.
occupationFiction writer
period1952–2014
alma_materNew York University
Brooklyn College
genreScience fiction
notableworksFlowers for Algernon (1959)
The Minds of Billy Milligan (1981)
spouseAurea Georgina Vazquez
awardsHugo Award (1960)
Nebula Award (1966)
Kurd Lasswitz Award (1986)
Seiun Award (1993)
website
::

| image = Daniel keyes 2.jpg | imagesize = | name = Daniel Keyes | caption = Daniel Keyes | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Boca Raton, Florida, U.S. | occupation = Fiction writer | period = 1952–2014 | alma_mater = New York University Brooklyn College | genre = Science fiction | subject = | movement = | notableworks = Flowers for Algernon (1959) The Minds of Billy Milligan (1981) | spouse = Aurea Georgina Vazquez | children = | influenced = | awards = Hugo Award (1960) Nebula Award (1966) Kurd Lasswitz Award (1986) Seiun Award (1993) | website =

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.

Biography

Early life and career

Keyes was born in New York City, New York. 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 in psychology from Brooklyn College.

A month after graduation, Keyes joined publisher Martin Goodman's magazine company, Magazine Management. He eventually became an editor of their pulp magazine Marvel Science Stories{{Cite magazine |last=Budrys |first=Algis |date=August 1966 |title=Galaxy Bookshelf |url=https://archive.org/stream/Galaxy_v24n06_1966-08#page/n185/mode/2up |magazine=Galaxy Science Fiction |pages=186–194

As Keyes recalled, Goodman offered him a job under Lee after Marvel Science Stories ceased publication:

::quote 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 [[letterer ::

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 Psychoanalysis, Shock Illustrated, and Confessions Illustrated, under both his own name and the pseudonyms Kris Daniels and A.D. Locke.

''Flowers for Algernon''

Main article: 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 in 1959 and the Nebula Award in 1966 for the story.

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.

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.

Death

Keyes died at his home in Boca Raton on June 15, 2014, due to complications from pneumonia. His wife Aurea Georgina Vazquez, whom he married in 1952, had died on May 14, 2013. They had two daughters.

Awards

Won

Nominated

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)
  • Until Death (1998)
  • The Asylum Prophecies (2009)

Short fiction

::data[format=table] | 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 | | 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

  • Daniel Keyes Collected Stories (Kayakawa, 1993)
  • Daniel Keyes Reader (Hayakawa, 1994)

Non-fiction

  • The Minds of Billy Milligan (1981)
  • Unveiling Claudia (1986)
  • The Milligan Wars: A True-Story Sequel (Hayakawa, 1994)
  • Algernon, Charlie and I: A Writer's Journey (Challcrest Press, 2000)

References

References

  1. His family was [[Jewish]].''The National Jewish Monthly'', B'nai B'rith, vol. 82-83 (1967), p. 172
  2. ''Research Studies'', Washington State University, vol. 40 (1972), p. 53
  3. "Meet American writer Daniel Keyes".
  4. "Aurea KEYES Obituary (2013) - Boca Raton, FL - the Palm Beach Post".
  5. "sfadb: Seiun Awards 1993".
  6. (2015). "Encyclopedia of the American Short Story".
  7. "in-development entry".
  8. Keyes, Daniel. (1999). "Algernon, Charlie, and I: A Writer's Journey". Challcrest Press Books.
  9. (1993). "The Play of Daniel Keyes' Flowers for Algernon". [[Heinemann (publisher).
  10. Ashley, Michael. (2005). "Transformations: Volume 2 in the History of Science Fiction Magazine, 1950–1970". [[Liverpool University Press]].
  11. "Daniel Keyes". [[Grand Comics Database]].
  12. Woodward, Dwight. (Fall 2000). "'Algernon' lives on". [[Ohio University]].
  13. Winters, Rae. (December 1, 2009). "Keyes Biography".
  14. "KLP 1986 Preisträger". [[Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis]].
  15. "1960 Hugo Awards". [[Hugo Award]]s.
  16. "1967 Hugo Awards". [[Hugo Award]]s.
  17. "Edgar Award Winners and Nominees Database". [[Mystery Writers of America]].
  18. (June 1997). "Daniel Keyes: 40 Years of Algernon (excerpt)". [[Locus (magazine).
  19. (June 17, 2014). "Daniel Keyes (1927–2014)". [[Locus Online]].
  20. Slotnik, Daniel E.. (June 17, 2014). "Daniel Keyes, a Novelist of the Mind, Dies at 86". [[The New York Times]].
  21. (June 17, 2014). "In Memoriam – Daniel Keyes 1927–2014". [[Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America]].
  22. Sedensky, Matt. (June 18, 2014). "Daniel Keyes, novelist whose "Flowers for Algernon" is a classroom staple, dies at 86". [[Toronto Star]].
  23. Langer, Emily. (June 18, 2014). "Daniel Keyes, author of the classic book 'Flowers for Algernon,' dies at 86". [[The Washington Post]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1927-births2014-deaths20th-century-american-male-writers20th-century-american-novelists20th-century-american-short-story-writers21st-century-american-male-writers21st-century-american-non-fiction-writers21st-century-american-novelists21st-century-american-short-story-writersamerican-comics-writersamerican-magazine-editorsamerican-male-non-fiction-writersamerican-male-novelistsamerican-male-short-story-writersamerican-military-personnel-of-world-war-iiamerican-psychological-fiction-writers20th-century-american-sailorsamerican-science-fiction-writersbrooklyn-college-alumnideaths-from-pneumonia-in-floridaec-comicshugo-award–winning-writersjewish-american-novelistsmarvel-comics-peoplemilitary-personnel-from-new-york-citymilitary-personnel-from-new-york-(state)nebula-award-winnersnovelists-from-michigannovelists-from-new-york-(state)novelists-from-ohioohio-university-facultythe-magazine-of-fantasy-&-science-fiction-peoplewayne-state-university-facultywriters-from-brooklynunited-states-merchant-marinersunited-states-merchant-mariners-of-world-war-ii