Donald Keith

Donald Keith was the shared pen name of Donald Monroe and his son Keith Monroe. Writing together under that byline, they became especially known for the Time Machine stories that appeared in Boys' Life over several decades.

Their best-known work followed Scouts on time-travel adventures, combining science-fiction ideas with the practical, outdoors-minded spirit of Scouting. Some of those magazine stories were later collected into the books Mutiny in the Time Machine and Time Machine to the Rescue.

Reference works on science fiction note that the series ran from 1959 to 1989, with the earlier stories written in collaboration and later entries written by Keith Monroe alone after his father's death. Even now, the Donald Keith name stands out as a memorable corner of mid-century and late-20th-century juvenile science fiction.