Background
Frank O’Keeffe was born on April 25, 1938, in Dublin, Ireland. He is a son of Charles O'Keeffe, a manager in a wine merchant’s, and Millie O'Keeffe, a homemaker.
Frank O’Keeffe
2500 University Dr NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
The University of Calgary where Frank O’Keeffe received a Bachelor of Education degree in 1973.
2500 University Dr NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
The University of Calgary where Frank O’Keeffe received a Bachelor of Education degree in 1973.
https://www.amazon.ca/Guppy-love-fish-tank-exploded/dp/0921103042
1986
(Keep school open? What kids in their right minds would ev...)
Keep school open? What kids in their right minds would ever do that?
https://www.amazon.com/School-Stinks-Frank-OKeeffe/dp/077367294X/?tag=2022091-20
1991
(The volume written in collaboration with Martha Godfrey.)
The volume written in collaboration with Martha Godfrey.
https://www.amazon.com/Theres-Cow-My-Swimming-Pool/dp/0590740458/?tag=2022091-20
1991
https://www.amazon.com/Harry-Flammable-Frank-OKeeffe-2013-03-16/dp/B01K90F5JG/?tag=2022091-20
2013
Frank O’Keeffe was born on April 25, 1938, in Dublin, Ireland. He is a son of Charles O'Keeffe, a manager in a wine merchant’s, and Millie O'Keeffe, a homemaker.
Although Frank O’Keeffe’s published writing has come on the heels of a lively teaching career, there is evidence that he has always been a man with a story tucked away for the telling.
He grew up in Ireland and, as early as grade four, won the story prize a resourceful teacher offered when called upon to do double duty with an absent colleague’s class of fifty boys. O’Keeffe’s “best story” was about the crash, in the South American jungle, of a plane carrying a cargo of racehorses. His dramatic tale earned him sixpence and represented his first income as a writer.
O’Keeffe received a Bachelor of Education from the University of Calgary in 1973.
Frank O’Keeffe started his career in Canada where he immigrated in 1957. At first, he earned his living as an insurance broker of an insurance company in Calgary. The company’s Christmas party provided an annual opportunity to flex his creative writing muscles and his humorous skits became traditional fare.
O’Keeffe continued to work in the insurance industry throughout the 1960s and, by the end of the decade, determined to return to school. In 1973, after a short pause that he made to receive a diploma in education, O’Keeffe was accepted on a teaching position at Yellowhead Public School Division in Edson, Alberta, where, as a teacher-librarian, children’s literature and storytelling became tools of his daily trade. He held the post first at A.H. Dakin Elementary School and then at Pine Grove Elementary School till 1988. He also tried his hand as an editor and contributor in the Teachers' Association Newsletter and local weekly periodical.
Over the years, Frank O’Keeffe’s interest in writing persisted. He completed two adult novels but consigned them to a cupboard at home. It took friendship with Canadian children’s author Martyn Godfrey to finally spur O’Keeffe to seek publication. Godfrey, also a teacher in Edson in the early 1980s, recognized O’Keeffe’s potential and encouraged him to write his stories and pitch them to publishers. Godfrey’s enthusiasm about O’Keeffe’s idea for a first children’s book became a powerful incentive for O’Keeffe, Godfrey made no bones about it.
O’Keeffe’s first book, ‘Guppy Love, or The Day the Fish Tank Exploded’ was published by Kids Can Press in 1986. The volume introduced pre-teen readers to a lively new storytelling voice with a good grasp of young people and a strong sense of fun.
The ‘Guppy Love’ experience was a good one, and O’Keeffe began to consider how he might arrange for more time to write. In 1988, the author decided to leave full-time teaching and, instead, to work occasionally as a substitute teacher. In the nine years since he made that decision, he has added six more titles, including ‘There's a Cow in My Swimming Pool’, co-written with Martyn Godfrey, to his body of work. By 1996, O’Keeffe abandoned teaching completely.
A year later, the writer and his wife moved from their modest cattle farm in Alberta to a half-acre property in Peachland, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia. Away from Alberta’s Yellowhead School Division and its occasional demand for substitute teachers, O’Keeffe found more time to write, tour and conduct creative writing workshops for children.
The latest book by Frank O’Keeffe is a 2013 volume ‘Harry Flammable’.
Frank O’Keeffe is an accomplished writer and educator whose books for children and youngsters are praised for their pacing and authenticity. The author cumulated the tiny details of his pupils’ life during the years of teaching and observing them closely and sharing in the inevitable ups and downs associated with approaching and entering into the teenage years.
O’Keeffe’s 'Weekend at the Ritz’ was marked by the Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award in 1996. The writer has also been nominated for such awards like Canadian Library Association Notable Book, Writers’ Guild of Alberta Children’s Literature Award, and Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children.
(Keep school open? What kids in their right minds would ev...)
1991(The volume written in collaboration with Martha Godfrey.)
1991Frank O’Keeffe has been a member of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre, the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers, the Alexandra Writers' Centre Society, and the Writers’ Union of Canada.
Quotes from others about the person
"O’Keeffe understands and sympathizes with the thought processes of primary school children and the perplexities they face." Celeste A. van Vloten, reviewer
Frank O’Keeffe married a school teacher Patricia on July 22, 1961. The family produced three children named Kerry, Kevin, and Michael.
