23 Apr Inwrite

Author Spotlight: Daniel Keyes


American author Daniel Keyes may not have become a household name unlike many other writers, but his short story Flowers for Algernon is one title that’s bound to be remembered by generations to come.

Born in New York in 1927, Daniel Keyes started college at New York University. However, he dropped out to join the United States Maritime Service at only 17 years old. After returning to New York in 1950, he returned to his studies and received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Brooklyn College. He later returned to take his master’s in English and American literature.

Despite finishing a degree related to scientific pursuits, Keyes pursued a career in publishing. He joined Magazine Management, a company owned by Martin Goodman, and eventually became editor of Marvel Science Stories, a pulp magazine published by the company. He also wrote for Atlas Comics, the precursor of the now widely popular Marvel Comics. Eventually, the company stopped publishing pulps and focused on paperbacks and men’s magazines. Keyes worked under Stan Lee as associate editor and wrote horror and science fiction comics for Atlas.

In 1959, Keyes wrote his breakthrough short story: Flowers for Algernon. The story is about Charlie, a man with an intellectual disability whose intelligence is increased through scientific experimentation. Eventually the change becomes too much for him. The story is told in a series of progress reports, starting from the experimental surgery, to Charlie’s brief life as a genius, to finally the effects wearing off. “Algernon” in the title refers to the mouse who was experimented on at the same time as Charlie.

Originally, the story was published in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. It was later expanded into a novel in 1966. The story earned Keyes several awards, including the Hugo and Nebula Awards. The story was also adapted to a film in 1968 called Charly, starring Cliff Robertson and Claire Bloom. Robertson was awarded an Oscar for his acting in the film.

Following the success of Flowers for Algernon, Keyes started teaching creative writing. He started at Wayne State University then moved to Ohio University in 1966. In 2000, he was honored as a professor emeritus in Ohio University. In 1988, he was presented a Distinguished Alumnus Medal of Honor by Brooklyn College.

Keyes also continued to write, but nothing came close to the success of Flowers for Algernon. He wrote The Minds of Billy Mulligan in 1981, a nonfiction novel about Billy Milligan, the first criminal in US history to be acquitted of a major crime by pleading multiple personality disorder. This was followed by Unveiling Claudia in 1986, Until Death in 1998, and his final novel, The Asylum Prophecies, in 2009.

In 2014, Keyes died from complications caused by pneumonia. At the time, he had been residing in Boca Raton, Florida.

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