Daniel O'Keefe (writer)

Daniel Lawrence O'Keefe (February 25, 1928 – August 29, 2012) was an editor at Reader's Digest,[1] author, and the inventor of Festivus, an annual secular holiday now celebrated on December 23.[2] His son, Dan O'Keefe, was a writer for the Seinfeld[3] television show and incorporated the family holiday into an episode of the program,[1] and in 2005 published The Real Festivus.[4]

O'Keefe published the book Stolen Lightning: The Social Theory of Magic in 1982.[5] The Los Angeles Times Book Review called this book "a spectacular synthesis of sociology, anthropology, and psychoanalysis... a tour de force of accessible scholarship." [6] The New York Times Book Review called it "a powerful explication of how deeply magic is embedded in society,"[7] and Commonweal dubbed it "a potential classic." [8]

Festivus

Main article: Festivus

O'Keefe invented Festivus in 1966 to commemorate his wife's and his first date. Their son, Dan, later worked as a screenwriter for the American television show Seinfeld, and during the 1997 season introduced Festivus to the public in a Seinfeld episode named "The Strike".

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Allen Salkin (December 19, 2004). "Fooey to the World: Festivus Is Come". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
  2. ↑ "DANIEL L. O'KEEFE Obituary: View DANIEL O'KEEFE's Obituary by New York Times". Legacy.com. 1928-02-25. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
  3. ↑ Dan O'Keefe at the Internet Movie Database
  4. ↑ O'Keefe, Dan. The Real Festivus. Perigee, 2005.
  5. ↑ Mark Glazer (January 2, 1983). "How Magic Works". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
  6. ↑ "review cited on front cover of Vintage Books 1983 edition".
  7. ↑ Glazer, Mark (January 2, 1983). "How Magic Works". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
  8. ↑ "cited on back cover of Vintage Books 1983 edition".