About The Author
DANIEL KEYES (1927- )
Award winning author Daniel Keyes was born on August 9, 1927, in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up in New York City and attended the public schools there. Keyes attended college for one year, then joined the Marines. When his tour of duty with the Marines was completed, Daniel Keyes attended Brooklyn College and earned a B. A. in psychology.
In 1950 he went to work for a magazine firm in New York as an associate fiction editor. He stayed there for one year, then went into the photography business. This career lasted only a short time, and in 1954 Keyes began teaching English at the high school which he had attended.
During the next several years, Keyes taught during the day, went to Brooklyn College at night to pursue a Master's degree in English and American Literature, and wrote on the weekends. In 1962 he joined the faculty at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, as an instructor in English. He taught there until 1966. From 1966-1972, he was a lecturer at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. In 1972 Keyes became a professor of English at Ohio University.
Flowers for Algernon is Keyes's most well-known work. It was originally written as a short story. In 1959, the short story version was awarded the Hugo Award at the World Science Fiction Convention. Keyes was encouraged to develop the short story into a novel. This novel version of Flowers for Algernon received the Nebula Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1966. Keyes also received the Mystery Writers of America special award for The Minds of Billy Milligan. In 1961, the CBS Playhouse aired "The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon," a television play based on the short story "Flowers for Algernon." "Charly," the film version of the novel was released in 1968. Flowers for Algernon has also been adapted for the live stage, and has been produced in Canada, England, and the United States.
Keyes's other writings include The Touch, 1968; The Fifth Sally, 1980; and The Minds of Billy Milligan(nonfiction), 1981.
Daniel Keyes lives in Athens, Ohio.
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