Harry Stephen Keeler
@harryskeeler.bsky.social
A million stories are trembling to be crystallized on the black ribbon of the typewriter. Located in Chicago, London of the West. Portrait by Al Hirschfeld. Join the Keeler Society: https://site.xavier.edu/polt/keeler/join.html
[RIP actress and singer Ingrid van Bergen, 94, known for TOWN WITHOUT PITY (1961), THE COUNTERFEIT TRAITOR (1962), and THE VAMPIRE HAPPENING (1971). In 1977 she shot her boyfriend, Klaus Knaths, and was convicted of manslaughter. Her last film was SHARKNADO 5: GLOBAL SWARMING (2017).]
November 28, 2025 at 11:13 PM
[RIP actress and singer Ingrid van Bergen, 94, known for TOWN WITHOUT PITY (1961), THE COUNTERFEIT TRAITOR (1962), and THE VAMPIRE HAPPENING (1971). In 1977 she shot her boyfriend, Klaus Knaths, and was convicted of manslaughter. Her last film was SHARKNADO 5: GLOBAL SWARMING (2017).]
[Gertrude Jeannette, blacklisted Harlem playwright, star of stage and screen, licensed NYC cab driver, was born Nov. 28, 1914. During the Peekskill Riots, she and her boxing champion husband rushed on their motorcycles to rescue Paul Robeson from the Klan. She lived to be 103.]
November 28, 2025 at 5:25 PM
[Gertrude Jeannette, blacklisted Harlem playwright, star of stage and screen, licensed NYC cab driver, was born Nov. 28, 1914. During the Peekskill Riots, she and her boxing champion husband rushed on their motorcycles to rescue Paul Robeson from the Klan. She lived to be 103.]
[Jacqueline White celebrates her 103rd birthday today! Born Nov. 27, 1922, in Beverly Hills, she went on to star in CROSSFIRE (1947), RETURN OF THE BAD MEN (1948), THE NARROW MARGIN (1952), and of course AIR RAID WARDENS (1942) with Laurel and Hardy. "They were charming and a delight."]
November 27, 2025 at 4:55 PM
[Jacqueline White celebrates her 103rd birthday today! Born Nov. 27, 1922, in Beverly Hills, she went on to star in CROSSFIRE (1947), RETURN OF THE BAD MEN (1948), THE NARROW MARGIN (1952), and of course AIR RAID WARDENS (1942) with Laurel and Hardy. "They were charming and a delight."]
[We just named this kitten Humbaba, Guardian of the Cedar Forests.]
November 26, 2025 at 10:21 PM
[We just named this kitten Humbaba, Guardian of the Cedar Forests.]
[Artist and writer P. D. Eastman, BOTD in 1909, worked on Disney and WB cartoons, and Private Snafu, and Mr. Magoo, and Gerald McBoing-Boing, and Tom Terrific, and went on to create Go, Dog, Go! His son Tony animated Beavis and Butthead.]
November 25, 2025 at 6:10 PM
[Artist and writer P. D. Eastman, BOTD in 1909, worked on Disney and WB cartoons, and Private Snafu, and Mr. Magoo, and Gerald McBoing-Boing, and Tom Terrific, and went on to create Go, Dog, Go! His son Tony animated Beavis and Butthead.]
[Your Cat/Who Your Cat Is Named After]
November 25, 2025 at 6:10 PM
[Your Cat/Who Your Cat Is Named After]
[Happy 99th birthday to Terry Kilburn, who said "God bless us, every one" in A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1938) and "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" in GOODBYE MR. CHIPS (1939). In 1958 he appeared in FIEND WITHOUT A FACE.]
November 25, 2025 at 6:09 PM
[Happy 99th birthday to Terry Kilburn, who said "God bless us, every one" in A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1938) and "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" in GOODBYE MR. CHIPS (1939). In 1958 he appeared in FIEND WITHOUT A FACE.]
[David Alexander Newell, Mr. McFeely on Mister Rogers, celebrates his 87th birthday today. Speedy delivery!]
November 24, 2025 at 3:07 PM
[David Alexander Newell, Mr. McFeely on Mister Rogers, celebrates his 87th birthday today. Speedy delivery!]
[RIP Jimmy Cliff, 81]
November 24, 2025 at 3:06 PM
[RIP Jimmy Cliff, 81]
November 24, 2025 at 1:59 AM
[And two bottles of Smirnoff. HONK! Make that three bottles of Smirnoff.]
November 23, 2025 at 5:56 PM
[And two bottles of Smirnoff. HONK! Make that three bottles of Smirnoff.]
[Harpo Marx was born Adolf (later Arthur) Marx on this day in 1888. Circa HORSE FEATHERS he was handing out nude photographs of himself as a gag; one was auctioned recently for $5,760. You can see it here, but I've warned you. (Thanks Teakagee!)]
bid.juliensauctions.com/lot-details/...
bid.juliensauctions.com/lot-details/...
November 23, 2025 at 5:56 PM
[Harpo Marx was born Adolf (later Arthur) Marx on this day in 1888. Circa HORSE FEATHERS he was handing out nude photographs of himself as a gag; one was auctioned recently for $5,760. You can see it here, but I've warned you. (Thanks Teakagee!)]
bid.juliensauctions.com/lot-details/...
bid.juliensauctions.com/lot-details/...
[Meet Humbaba, Guardian of the Cedar Forest, Keeper of the Fortress of Intestines]
November 23, 2025 at 4:41 PM
[Meet Humbaba, Guardian of the Cedar Forest, Keeper of the Fortress of Intestines]
[When winter comes with snow and sleet
And me with hunger and cold feet
Who says, "Here's twenty-five cents, go ahead and get somethin' to eat?"
Nobody!]
And me with hunger and cold feet
Who says, "Here's twenty-five cents, go ahead and get somethin' to eat?"
Nobody!]
November 23, 2025 at 4:39 AM
[When winter comes with snow and sleet
And me with hunger and cold feet
Who says, "Here's twenty-five cents, go ahead and get somethin' to eat?"
Nobody!]
And me with hunger and cold feet
Who says, "Here's twenty-five cents, go ahead and get somethin' to eat?"
Nobody!]
[Stratemeyer YA novel in which Lamont Cranston awakens in dystopian 2087 and finds he can turn invisible, shoot lightning, and turn into a cat, or a wall. Must battle cryogenic Shiwan Khan, who can turn into a bus.]
November 22, 2025 at 8:55 PM
[Stratemeyer YA novel in which Lamont Cranston awakens in dystopian 2087 and finds he can turn invisible, shoot lightning, and turn into a cat, or a wall. Must battle cryogenic Shiwan Khan, who can turn into a bus.]
November 21, 2025 at 9:39 PM
[Happy 83rd birthday to Norman Greenbaum, famous for “Spirit in the Sky” and “The Eggplant that Ate Chicago.” Now a dairy farmer and podcaster!]
archive.org/details/lp_t...
archive.org/details/lp_t...
November 20, 2025 at 4:23 PM
[Happy 83rd birthday to Norman Greenbaum, famous for “Spirit in the Sky” and “The Eggplant that Ate Chicago.” Now a dairy farmer and podcaster!]
archive.org/details/lp_t...
archive.org/details/lp_t...
["For all my seemingly sometimes rattlebrained manner, I am actually deathly sincere and serious about my writing... Am only happy--my only real happiness--at the machine." Noir author Gil Brewer was BOTD in 1922. His father, also Gil Brewer, wrote "The Gorilla of the Gasbags" for Zeppelin Stories!]
November 20, 2025 at 3:39 PM
["For all my seemingly sometimes rattlebrained manner, I am actually deathly sincere and serious about my writing... Am only happy--my only real happiness--at the machine." Noir author Gil Brewer was BOTD in 1922. His father, also Gil Brewer, wrote "The Gorilla of the Gasbags" for Zeppelin Stories!]
Cool jazz singer June Christy was born Shirley Luster in Springfield, Illinois, 100 years ago today! Listen to "Something Cool" from her classic 1954 10" LP of the same name.]
archive.org/details/JV-3...
archive.org/details/JV-3...
November 20, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Cool jazz singer June Christy was born Shirley Luster in Springfield, Illinois, 100 years ago today! Listen to "Something Cool" from her classic 1954 10" LP of the same name.]
archive.org/details/JV-3...
archive.org/details/JV-3...
[It was real. Variety, July 23, 1958.]
November 19, 2025 at 7:57 PM
[It was real. Variety, July 23, 1958.]
[Here’s my great-great-grandmother, Laura Foster, wife of Edward Parker, one of the three Parker Brothers. Her great-grandfather, Elisha Foster, fought in the Revolution; he "marched to Bristol, R. I. Dec. 10, 1776, on an alarm." I don't know if anything in particular happened when he got there.]
November 19, 2025 at 6:23 PM
[Here’s my great-great-grandmother, Laura Foster, wife of Edward Parker, one of the three Parker Brothers. Her great-grandfather, Elisha Foster, fought in the Revolution; he "marched to Bristol, R. I. Dec. 10, 1776, on an alarm." I don't know if anything in particular happened when he got there.]
[Bring Your Child To Work Day]
November 19, 2025 at 3:23 PM
[Bring Your Child To Work Day]
[Shakespeare quotations in stained glass at the Winchester Mystery House.]
November 15, 2025 at 8:42 PM
[Shakespeare quotations in stained glass at the Winchester Mystery House.]
[Publicity for THE FLY (1958), supposedly found by David J. Schow in the Motion Picture Herald. Can this be real?]
November 15, 2025 at 5:35 PM
[Publicity for THE FLY (1958), supposedly found by David J. Schow in the Motion Picture Herald. Can this be real?]
[Solar eclipse seen from Romania, 1999. Photographed by Wendy Carlos, 86 years old today.]
November 14, 2025 at 5:33 PM
[Solar eclipse seen from Romania, 1999. Photographed by Wendy Carlos, 86 years old today.]