Eugene George Key
Eugene George Key (August 5, 1907 – February 1, 1968) was an American college professor, Air Force officer, and writer of science and engineering books. He was born in Jackson, Mississippi, and died in Long Beach, California. Key taught engineering at East Los Angeles College and held the rank of lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. He earned a B.S. in arts and sciences from the Illinois Institute of Technology and a B.S. in electrical engineering from Northwestern University; he was a licensed professional engineer with broad practical experience in industry and government.
Key wrote both fiction and technical books. His science fiction collection Mars Mountain (1935) was the first full-length SF book published by a publisher specializing in science fiction. He also authored Elementary Engineering (1960) and Principles of Electricity (1968). During World War II, he served in England and helped write and edit Air Force technical handbooks. He published about twenty articles in Power Plant Engineering and Design News. He belonged to several professional groups, including the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Society for Engineering Education, the National Science Teachers Association, and the Los Angeles College Teachers Association, and he was listed in various Who’s Who directories.
Personal life: He married Winifred Rachel Key in England during World War II. They had five children: Linford, Robert, Jenifer, George, and Barbara. Eugene Key passed away at the VA Hospital in Long Beach, California, on February 1, 1968, at age 60.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 10:34 (CET).