Damn!

As I said, I’ll be putting up another booklist in the next few days, and the enigramatic Mr. Keel will be on it. I have met the man more than once, and contrary to many people’s opinions of him, he was gracious and kind to me. I had to keep from babbling like an idiot. Adam had sent me a copy of his little-known soft-core porno novel “The Fickle Finger Of Fate” and he signed it for me, inscribing it with “To my favorite editor and collector of high-class literature.” I read in the latest issue of Saucer Smear that he recently had a heart attack, so I hope he is doing OK.

I think the situation here with a lack of specific Keel titles is just this: Keel stands as such an Icon that any part of his body of work is worth devouring. He has already reached the point where just his last name is all that needs speaking for people to instantly apprehend who you’re talking about…so he’s moved into “Elvis” territory in terms of iconography. You also encounter articles or write-ups where some idea or position is termed “Keelian”. That tells you right there you’re dealing with someone who has well and truly “arrived” in terms of in-the-know recognition.

From all this I’d say that the advice, even the admonition, to “READ KEEL” is pretty much a given.

You guys have a nice looking blog here…Of course with Bishop’s constant UFO hoaxing he’s bound to discredit the whole operation…

What impresses me about Keel in particular was: yes, the writing was topnotch, he got out and did the footwork, retained a sense of humor and a healthy does of skepticism without going overboard, yet had the courage to throw himself into some strange investigations that made his life experiences equally strange and unnerving, but came out on the other end a richer man who brought us a fine body of work. How’s that for a life?

Of course, I’m making it sound like he’s not around anymore, which isn’t the case by any means…

Barker I found interesting for some of the same reasons, but also there was a bit of the prankster/trickster in him that appeals to me, like the fake letters he and Moseley sent to Adamski on phony government letterhead. This was like the type of Discordian hoax/prank that Wilson, Thornley, et al would be involved in a decade later.