Reflecting On His Childhood: Princeton Author Writes Memoir

Candace Braun

Princeton resident and author Edmund Keeley's new book, Borderlines: A Memoir, which will be published in May, discusses the author's early life, leading up to his career in Princeton, his marriage, and the publication of his first novel, The Libation.

Much of the book takes place during Mr. Keeley's childhood, and talks about how living abroad while he was growing up gave him and his brothers a tolerance for other nationalities and religions.

"It allowed us to have a vision that normal kids don't get....you get globalized very quickly," he said.

Different cultures shape your life in different ways, said the author, which is what inspired his book's title, Borderlines.

"The objective is to make what is unique actually representative....Too much nationalism is a bad thing," he said, adding that tolerance is something that everyone can and should learn to have in their life.

Born in Damascus, Syria, Mr. Keeley spent most of his youth growing up in Salonika, Greece, where his father worked in the American Consulate. He came to the U.S. in 1944, at 16 years of age, attending school at Western High School in Washington D.C. Only then did he realize that both he and his brothers had spoken to their parents in the third person since he was nine years old.

It wasn't until Mr. Keeley arrived in America that he learned how much American culture he had missed out on and wanted to embrace. The author said he was almost 17 years old before he picked up an American football.

"When I came back to this country I felt like an outsider, so I tried to be more American than everyone else," he said.

Coming to Princeton

Mr. Keeley recalls getting very little help in selecting a college: "So few went on in those days."

Most of his friends went to local colleges, except for one who went to Princeton University, where he ended up going himself.

"Princeton University had the largest reputation back then," he said. "I grew up thinking the school was the only university in the world."

When his father was transferred back to Europe, Mr. Keeley had to accelerate his courses, but didn't have time to participate in college boards. This made it difficult when he returned and wanted to attend college. In one chapter in his book he describes how he managed to "convince" the dean at Princeton to allow him to enroll by telling him that his older brother had attended the school, and that his father had been a cadet there.

"The dean said, 'Well, that at least makes you a bastard son of Princeton,' " said the author. Mr. Keeley earned a B.A. degree in English and American literature at Princeton. His education was interrupted by his service as a second seaman in the Navy. After he completed his degree, he went on to Oxford University for more schooling, where he met his Greek wife, Mary, with whom he shares homes in both Princeton and Athens, Greece.

After all his travels, he ended up returning to Princeton, where he was on the English Department faculty for 40 years, until his retirement.

"I feel like I've had a very satisfactory life, and Princeton is much at fault for that," said Mr. Keeley, adding that his career at Princeton helped him to be the writer he always wanted to be.

"The professors taught me....what Western civilization really meant; they humanized me."

Mr. Keeley is the author and translator of more than 35 works. Some of his non-fiction books include Modern Greek Writers, Cavafy's Alexandria, and The Salonika Bay Murder: Cold War Politics and the Polk Affair. Among his works of fiction are The Gold-Hatted Lover, Voyage to a Dark Island, and A Wilderness Called Peace. Mr. Keeley has also translated several volumes of Greek poetry.

The author has received numerous awards, including the Harold Morton Landon Translation Award from the Academy of American Poets; a NEA-PEN Fiction Syndicate Award; the Academy Award in Literature; and the New Jersey Authors Award.

He has also had grants from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Mr. Keeley will be at a reading and book signing for his book, Borderlines: A Memoir, on Tuesday, May 3, at p.m., at Barnes & Noble Princeton. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call (609) 716-1570.