Keller, Irene (Barron) 1927-2002
KELLER, Irene (Barron) 1927-2002
OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born January 13, 1927, in Falkirk, Scotland; died of lung cancer July 25, 2002, in Chicago, IL. Author. While Keller made her living as a copyeditor, she is perhaps best remembered for her books for children. Moving to the United States to marry an American, she worked in the classified ad department at the Chicago Tribune before dedicating herself to raising a family. However, during this time she also attended the University of Illinois at Chicago for two years, wrote poetry, and helped publish a poetry anthology titled Port Chicago Poets. In the 1960s she was an editorial assistant at Encyclopedia Britannica and then a proofreader at World Book, where she worked from 1969 until the late 1980s. Becoming a freelancer editor, she continued to do copyedit assignments for a number of publishers while also writing a series of children's stories, which were illustrated by her husband, Dick Keller. Keller published nine books, many of which teach children proper manners and behavior, among them The Thingumajig Book of Manners (1981), Buzzy the Bunny (1981), The Thingumajig Book of Do's and Don'ts (1983), and Benjamin Rabbit and the Stranger Danger (1985).
OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:
PERIODICALS
Chicago Tribune, August 1, 2002, section 2, p. 9.