[3][4] He attended New York University briefly before joining the United States Maritime Service at 17, working as a ship's purser on oil tankers.

After Goodman ceased publishing pulps in favor of paperback books and men's adventure magazines, Keyes became an associate editor of Atlas[1] under editor-in-chief and art director Stan Lee.

[7] As Keyes recalled, Goodman offered him a job under Lee after Marvel Science Stories ceased publication: Since my $17.25-a-month rent was almost due, I accepted what I considered a detour on my journey toward a literary career.

Naturally, I began submitting story ideas, getting freelance assignment, and supplementing my salary by writing scripts on my own time.

[8]One story idea Keyes wrote but did not submit to Lee was called "Brainstorm", the paragraph-long synopsis that would evolve into Flowers for Algernon.

[7] The short story and subsequent novel, Flowers for Algernon, is written as progress reports of a mentally disabled man, Charlie, who undergoes experimental surgery and briefly becomes a genius before the effects tragically wear off.

[9] The novel has been adapted several times for other media, most prominently as the 1968 film Charly, starring Cliff Robertson (who won an Academy Award for Best Actor) and Claire Bloom.