Daniel Keyes, author of the 1959 award winning science fiction classic Flowers for Algernon, has died. He was 86 years old.
Keyes was the author of five novels and three works of nonfiction including: The Touch, The Fifth Sally, The Asylum Prophecies and The Minds of Billy Milligan, among others. Here is more about the author from Tor’s website:
Born in 1927, Keyes joined Martin Goodman’s Magazine Management after a stint in the United States Maritime Service and studying at NYU and Brooklyn College. While working as the editor of Marvel Science Stories, he began writing for Atlas Comics. By the early 1950s, Keyes was promoted to associate editor under editor-in-chief Stan Lee, and continued writing comics, specifically focusing on science fiction and horror stories. It was during this time that he had the initial idea for Flowers for Algernon, but decided to wait until he could expand the story in a more serious format.