author
Bern Keating
1915–2004
A prolific travel writer, historian, and journalist, this Canadian-born Mississippi author turned a restless curiosity into dozens of books on war, rivers, horses, and the American South. His work blends reporterly detail with a storyteller’s feel for adventure and place.
1 Audiobook
The Mosquito Fleet
by Bern Keating
About the author
Born in Fassett, Quebec, on May 14, 1915, Leo Bernard "Bern" Keating moved to the United States as a child and later earned a BA from the University of Arkansas. During World War II he served in the U.S. Navy, an experience that helped shape his lasting interest in military history.
Keating built a wide-ranging writing career that stretched across journalism, travel writing, biography, and history. He published more than two dozen books, including works on the Mississippi River, the Civil War, and PT boats, and he became especially associated with Mississippi after settling in Greenville in 1946. His wife, Franke Keating, was a photographer, and the two often collaborated on travel and regional projects.
He remained an important literary presence in Mississippi for decades and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters in 1995. Keating died in 2004 at age 88, leaving behind a body of work marked by curiosity, strong research, and an eye for vivid real-world subjects.