Comments on: John Keel 1930-2009

By: John Keel RIP at Further: Strange Attractor & beyond

John Keel RIP at Further: Strange Attractor & beyond — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:01:41 +0000

[...] a great obit from Dr David Clarke and another from Greg Bishop, who was on the Natural History Museum trip too. « Clean living in difficult [...]

By: theo paijmans

theo paijmans — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:15:28 +0000

John Keel, I don’t hesitate to say, was formative in my teens when I read his ‘Haunted Planet’ for the very first time. He has always been one of my heroes, and he will always be.

John wrote the preface to my 1998 book ‘Free Energy Pioneer: John Worrelll Keely’. I owe that to my late - and also deeply missed - publisher Ron Bonds, of IllumiNet Press, one of the most decent publishers I have ever met and one who was genuinly interested in what you did as a writer and researcher in the Fortean Arcana.

When my book was finished, and he suggested someone do a preface, I immediately said ‘John Keel’. I know there was a slight chance that it might work out, as Ron had republished several of Keel’s titles at that time(Our haunted Planet, Disneyland of the Gods which contained new materials). To my eternal joy, Keel did write the preface, after having read the draft of my book.

I talked to John a number of times over the phone (I am living in Europe) and at one time I suggested he’d do a follow up on his ‘Mothman Prophecies’. My suggestion to which I heard him chuckling at the other end of the transatlantic line, and saying about the title of the book: “The Return Of Mothman!” It gave me goosepimples. Just imagine: a new Keel title!

In the end it was not to be and Keel has passed on to the Disneyland Of The Gods, as Phyllis Benjamin of INFO so aptly put it.

Although I never met him, he will be deeply missed. His passing marks the end of an era.

In honour of a most original thinker, researcher and author, click following the link to an old Keel article (published in 1967) titled: “Who Was That 6-Inch-High Animated Tin Can I Saw You With Last Night?”: http://seektress.com/tincan2.htm

Sincere regards,

Theo Paijmans

By: craig york

craig york — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:15:45 +0000

I cut my Fortean teeth on Strange
Creatures From Time And Space
more than forty years ago. Like its
author, an enduring classic.

By: chris obrien

chris obrien — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:39:42 +0000

John Keel was my hero. From the very beginning of my interest in fortean subjects in the late 60s, Keel more than any other author, instilled in me an out-of-the-box way of looking at the many mysteries in the natural world. I have read most, if not all of his many books several times and consider Operation Trojan Horse to ne aurguable the best book ever written on UFOs. I loosely modeled my own approach to investigating the San Luis Valley after his Pt. Pleasant/Mothman work. His idea of taking a specific geographic area and investigating ALL unusual events, was light-years ahead of his time and an approach only attempted by a few investigators to date. His ultraterrestrial hypothesis
and the observation that UFOs and various paranormal phenomena were only here “to confound us,” has prompted me to take his thinking to the next level. I have just completed my first “beyond” the mysterious valley book, “Stalking the Tricksters,” which will be dedicated to his memory. Keel, more than any other author steered my thinking to where it is today

I have one interesting Keel story:
I lived a mere four blocks from Keel in NYC for 6 years and never knew it. I did see him a couple of times walking in the Murray Hill area, but was too insecure to bother him. I finally got up the courage to invite him to be a speaker at my “Emergence Conference” my brother and I had planned for October 2001. I called him and asked if he would consider coming down to Chiapas. Much to my surprise, he agreed and we talked at length. At one point he asked me if I was “ready to end up in jail.” I was taken aback and asked him what he was talking about. He answered: “If I go down to your conference, I’m going to get you in a lot of trouble, and you might end up in jail.” He sounded serious! I told him it was worth the risk. The unfortunate events of 911 caused us to cancel the conference, but Keel had agreed to present, and my conversation with him about all things fortean is one of the highlights of my investigative process.

He was an unsung hero that didn’t receive a fraction of the respect and admiration he deserved. He will be greatly missed by those of us who aren’t satisfied with simple answers to difficult questions

By: GregLittle

GregLittle — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:24:55 +0000

John Keel was one of the most original thinkers in the UFO field and he has been sadly missed for some time…and he is even more missed now. British author Andrew Collins has said that his meeting of Keel was the highlight of his UFO career. Keel had been in declining health for decades and only been making sporadic treks out of his NY apartment as he could. In 2000 I spoke to him on the phone for about an hour and he was gracious and talkative. I had invited him to come to my home in Memphis and even offered to fly him down in a small plane—me as the pilot and him as copilot. (He hadn’t flown a plane in decades and liked the idea.) Sadly, he wanted to do it, but he just couldn’t do it due to his health. He shared his declining health issues perhaps because he knew I was an admirer of his work and the man. I have spoken to him only a few times, but his death leaves a hole in ufology that I fear can’t be filled. His books, as he confided with me as a fellow UFO writer with parallel ideas, never sold to the extent to where he could make much money, even though he wrote in the heyday of UFOlogy. I can’t bring myself to say the number of copies of his biggest books sold. His theories were shunned by many others in the field and he and his fellow ufologists didn’t get along too well. Of course, John didn’t listen to the ideas spewed by his fellow ufologists at the time, and he paid a price for it. Keel walked his own path to the end. I don’t think he ever wavered in his ideas about ufos and the underlying bizarreness in the entire field. But his ideas remain some of the most important ever put forth. You’ll be missed, John, and I hope you have attuned to the big electron–the EM spectrum–you perceived influencing those of us walking on earth. So sorry to see you go.

Your disciple, Dr. Greg Little, or Greg Kline in German as you called me.

By: euphemystic

euphemystic — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:05:19 +0000

Interesting, today I decided to learn the Carolan tune “Mrs. Keel”, a rather solemn and thoughtful piece.

If he had anything to do with it I’m certainly grateful. Here’s a link to a cheesy midi, but it’s a beautiful tune:
http://pybertra.free.fr/ceol/carolan.htm

By: crgintx

crgintx — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:38:50 +0000

Who is the leader of Forteana now?

John has once again stepped ahead of us and shed his mortal coil. I’ve heard and read he was in poor health.

RIP John Keel, See you on the other side!

By: red pill junkie

red pill junkie — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:19:45 +0000

“In some sort of cosmic trickster way, Keel may have gotten a final laugh as my computer locked up and apparently died as I was writing this obituary. After a couple of tries, it miraculously resurrected itself. Long live Keel!”

Oh, so THAT is what happened! I should have known

Vaya con Dios, señor Keel (if that’s what you want to do, anyway)