GetWiki

{{short description|American children’s writer}}

factoids

| birth_place = Dows, Iowa, U.S.19912305|09}}| death_place = Hopewell, New Jersey, U.S.| resting_place = | occupation = Author | language = | nationality = | ethnicity = | citizenship =| education = | alma_mater = United States Naval Academy| period = | genre = | subject = | movement = Henry Reed (fictional character)>Henry Reed| spouse = Elizabeth Woodburn Robertson| partner(s) = | children = | relative(s) = | influences = | influenced = | awards = William Allen White Children’s Book Award | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | portaldisp = }}Keith Carlton Robertson (1914–1991) was an American writer of children’s books and murder mysteries. He was a former captain in the United States Navy.

Biography

Keith Robertson was born on May 9, 1914, in Dows, Iowa. He joined the Navy in 1931, and served as a radioman on a destroyer.Henry Reed, Inc. Study Guide Later, he attended the United States Naval Academy, graduating with a B.S. degree. He attributed his initial decision to study at the academy to a “fanatical aversion to washing dishes.” He said, “When I discovered that midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy did not wash dishes but were gentlemen by act of Congress, I promptly applied for entrance.“Keith Robertson, Henry Reed’s Baby-Sitting Service, Puffin Books, 1989, End matter. Robertson served in World War II as captain of a destroyer.WEB,www.childrensliteraturenetwork.org/birthbios/brthpage/05may/5-9robe.html, Children’s Literature Network, 2010-04-26,mailto:info@childrensliteraturenetwork.org/birthbios/brthpage/05may/5-9robe.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20140301213102mailto:info@childrensliteraturenetwork.org/birthbios/brthpage/05may/5-9robe.html,">web.archive.org/web/20140301213102mailto:info@childrensliteraturenetwork.org/birthbios/brthpage/05may/5-9robe.html, 2014-03-01, dead, He was awarded five battle stars. He retired from the service as a captain in the United States Naval Reserve.Robertson published his first book, Ticktock and Jim, in 1948.Papers of Keith Robertson His writing career spanned 40 years. As a member of the Rutgers University Council on Children’s Literature, he was active in encouraging aspiring authors.Rutgers University Council on Children’s Literature {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100605130832www.ruccl.org/about_ruccl.html|date=2010-06-05}}He was married to Elizabeth Woodburn Robertson,Keith Robertson, 77; Wrote 5-Book Series For Schoolchildren a rare-book dealer, and had four children. He died of cancer at his home in Hopewell, New Jersey on September 23, 1991, aged 77. Keith Carlton Robertson’s obituary, from the September 30, 1991 New York Timesvia Associated Press. “Keith Robertson, author”, Bangor Daily News, October 1, 1991. Accessed February 15, 2011. “Keith Carlton Robertson, who wrote the Henry Reed series of children’s books, has died of cancer. He was 77. He died Sept. 23 at his home in Hopewell.”

Writing career

Keith Robertson is best known for the five books of the Henry Reed series, beginning in 1958 with Henry Reed, Inc., which won the William Allen White Children’s Book Award in 1961.William Allen White Children’s Book award, Past Winners 1960-1969 {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528132756www.emporia.edu/libsv/wawbookaward/winners/pastwinners.htm |date=2010-05-28 }} Another Henry Reed book, Henry Reed’s Baby-Sitting Service, also won this award, along with the Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Readers’ Choice Award, in 1969.WEB,www.pnla.org/yrca/pastwinners.htm, YRCA Past Winners, 2010-04-24,www.pnla.org/yrca/pastwinners.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20121029043911www.pnla.org/yrca/pastwinners.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20121029043911www.pnla.org/yrca/pastwinners.htm, 2012-10-29, dead, The Henry Reed series was illustrated by Robert McCloskey.The Continuum Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature by Bernice E. Cullinan, Diane Goetz Person. Continuum International Publishing Group 2003, page 531Keith Robertson used the pseudonym Carlton Keith for his six murder mysteries.

Series books

Ticktock and Jim series

• Ticktock and Jim aka Watch for a Pony (1948)
• Ticktock and Jim, Deputy Sheriffs (1949)

The Neil and Swede series AKA the Carson Street Detective Agency series

• The Mystery of Burnt Hill (1952)
• Three Stuffed Owls (1954)
• The Crow and the Castle (1957)
• The Money Machine (1969)

The Sourland Mountain series AKA the John Michelson series

• Outlaws of the Sourland (1953)
• The Pinto Deer (1956)

The Henry Reed series

• Henry Reed, Inc. (1958)
• Henry Reed’s Journey (1963)
• Henry Reed’s Baby-Sitting Service (1966)
• Henry Reed’s Big Show (1970)
• Henry Reed’s Think Tank (1986)
• The Adventures of Henry Reed omnibus (1982)

Standalone novels

• The Dog Next Door (1950)
• The Missing Brother: A Mystery Story for Older Boys (1950)
• The Lonesome Sorrel (1952)
• Mascot of the Melroy (1953)
• Wreck of the Saginaw (1954)
• Ice to India (1955)
• The Phantom Rider (1955)
• The Pilgrim Goose (1956)
• If Wishes Were Horses (1958)
• The Year of the Jeep (1968)
• In Search of a Sandhill Crane (1972)
• Tales of Myrtle the Turtle (1974)

Non-fiction books

• The Navy: From Civilian to Sailor (U.S. Armed Services Library) (1958)
• New Jersey (States of the Nation series) (1968)

Carlton Keith books

• The Diamond-Studded Typewriter aka A Gem of a Murder (1958)
• Missing, Presumed Dead (1961)
• Rich Uncle (1963)
• The Hiding Place (1965)
• The Crayfish Dinner aka The Elusive Epicure (1966)
• A Taste of Sangria aka The Missing Book-keeper (1968)

References

{{Reflist |25em}}

External links

• {{Gutenberg author | id=42729| name=Keith Robertson}}
• {{LCAuth|n79070037|Keith Robertson|31|}}
• Carlton Keith at LC Authorities, with 7 records

{{Authority control}}