Daniel Keyes, the MD who wrote the science-fiction classic Flowers for Algernon, has died at 86, of complications from pneumonia.
Cory Doctorow met him in 2000:
He told the story of how he’d conceived of Algernon while riding the subway to his medical residence, and how pleased he’d been with its reception (it’s also one of the small handful of science fiction novels whose film adaptation is in the same league as the book — the 1968 film Charly won its lead an Academy Award).
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Vol. 1: 1929-1964 includes the original short-story version.
Beside Charly, in 2000 Flowers for Algernon came out — not so good.
The original short story made quite an impact on me; the premise and writing were quite striking.