Keith Laumer, born June 9, 1925, is a well-known and respected writer from the “Golden Age” of science fiction. His “Retief” stories were a staple of the science fiction magazines. Laumer received a Hugo Award for best novel, and was a frequent nominee for other awards. The majority of his papers are housed at Syracuse University and the University of Mississippi.

John Keith Laumer (1925-1993) was a well-known science fiction writer who was most active from 1959-1971, until a stroke slowed down his writing career considerably. .A prolific author, he was best known for his satirical stories of Jame Retief, which Laumer introduced in the pulp magazine Fantastic Science Fiction _Stories_in January 1960. Retief is a swashbuckling, rulebreaking galactic diplomat who serves in the Corps Diplomatique Terrestrienne, and whose adventures are based loosely in Laumer's own experiences as an employee of the U.S. Foreign Service in the 1950s.