Dear SFWAns --

I'm delighted to announce that the Board of Directors and I have selected Daniel Keyes to be SFWA's 2000 Author Emeritus.

SFWA initiated the Author Emeritus program in 1995 as a way of honoring science fiction and fantasy writers of highly distinctive achievement and impact, who were no longer as active in the field as once they were. Previous recipients are Emil Petaja, Wilson "Bob" Tucker, Judith Merril, Nelson Bond, and William Tenn (Phil Klass).

I can't think of a more appropriate author to receive this honor than Daniel Keyes. His "Flowers for Algernon" grabbed hold of my intellect and soul when I first read it (I was 12) shortly after its publication in 1959, and it hasn't yet let go. In the years since, this one magnificent story has been read in junior high schools and high schools everywhere. In a century in which the novel has in many ways eclipsed the shorter form, Keyes in this one story has carried forth the tradition of Poe, de Maupassant, and O'Henry. Its subject matter -- its sense of understanding crumbling before our all-too-knowledgeable eyes which we know will soon lose even that knowledge -- is Shakespearean in its truth, universality, and depth.

As part of the Author Emeritus program, I'm pleased that Daniel Keyes will speak at our Nebula Awards™ banquet in New York City on May 20, and join us for our big signing at Barnes & Noble at Union Square on May 19. I hope to see many of you there as well.

All best wishes,
Paul Levinson

Updated February-9-2000