Name: LAUMER, John Keith Aged: 67
Born: June 9, 1925 Where: Syracuse, New York
Died: January 23, 1993 Where: _ _ _
Interred: Florida National Cemetery, Bushnell, FL: Plot 501, Gr 32
Married: Janice Perkinson When: February, 1949

Keith Laumer

"Every person in the State Department should be summarily
fired and barred from working for any government for life."

Attended Indiana University, 1943-44; Stockholm University, 1948-49; received a BA in architecture in 1950 from the University of Illinois. Became a staff member of the University of Illinois in 1952. Keith served in the US Army in Europe during WWII and then did two odd hitches in the US Air Force, 1953-56 and 1960-65, attaining the rank of Captain in the latter tour. In between the two military hitches, Laumer was a member of the US Foreign Service in Rangoon, Burma. After the second hitch, in 1965, Laumer turned his attention to writing.

Laumer worked at his trade, creating a huge series of Retief stories, both shorts and novels, Imperium tales, and the Bolo tank (which has taken on a life of its own since Laumer's death with multiple writers). Keith's style is somewhat jarring to traditional readers of fiction, punchy like Hemingway's with the words telling a story rather than the story serving as a vehicle for the words.

Laumer's first stroke brought him down with little chance to live . . . but Keith fought back against it, gradually re-acquiring limited mobility with the use of a cane. Not unexpectedly, however, his personality was effected and various depressions left their mark, with several of the possible negative mental results occurring.

Keith Laumer still has many loyal fans.

PEN NAMES: Anthony Lebaron

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Mine here. (A hard one to do.)

OBITUARY: St. Petersburg Times

MIL MARKER: "Laumer, Keith; June 9, 1925 - Jan 23, 1993; Cpl USA, Capt USAF, World War II, Korea, Vietnam"  

Send relevant email to George C. Willick