[1] Author Kevin Krajick has described Keck as "the world's greatest oil prospector, a man whose instincts about the location of petroleum were so uncanny, some believed him clairvoyant.

After his father left home to work in the oil fields, he landed a job selling sandwiches[1] and candy[3] on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to support his mother.

In one instance at the height of the 1920s oil boom in Los Angeles, he was the only "wildcatter" to retain a lease on 300 acres of Andrew Joughin's farm outside Torrance.

While other prospectors turned away from the property, Keck's "46 highly productive wells were considered one of California's most successful oil-drilling projects".

[8] Author Kevin Krajick has described Keck as "the world's greatest oil prospector, a man whose instincts about the location of petroleum were so uncanny, some believed him clairvoyant.

"[2] Keck was an active stalwart of the oil lobby politically, in part through his attorney Harold Morton and lobbyist Monroe Butler.

At one point, his fortune was estimated at $160 million, and at the time of his death, he and his family owned 51 per cent of Superior's shares.

[13] He left his widow, Sylvia Jean Keck, with "$400,000 outright and trust income from 4,000 shares of stock valued at $6.34 million.