Marty Keenan was born and raised in Great Bend, a fifth generation Kansan. Marty worked on the Great Bend High School newspaper, Panther Tales. A graduate in political science and law at KU, Marty chose the family business of becoming a lawyer, but wrote Kansas or Great Bend history articles as a hobby.
A lengthy article about pioneering black filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, the son and grandson of Great Bend Exodusters, was turned down for publication so Keenan posted the article on the internet—which seemed like a miraculous invention at the time. This led to several film festivals in Great Bend and Marty became friends with filmmakers and writers.
Marty encouraged author Patrick McGilligen to write a successful biography on Micheaux, but when Keenan learned that World War II spy Joan Bondurant (1918-2006) was a Great Bend native, he spent 15 years writing her biography in his spare time. The book was released on Amazon this year as BONDURANT: The Spy Who Cracked Gandhi’s Code (2026).
Keenan was inspired to complete the book and release it by his neighbor in Wichita, Jillian Forsberg. Publishing a book was new to Keenan, but he has sold 150 copies and considers the book a success simply because it was published. Keenan’s Oscar-winning friend Kevin Willmott gave him this pearl of wisdom:” Don’t let other people define success for you.” The book deals mostly with India and Gandhi as Bondurant learned Japanese and helped crush Imperial Japan with bombs, but met Gandhi during the war and became the top author in the West about Gandhi’s philosophy of conflict. Bondurant is unknown outside a tiny circle of Gandhi scholars but he hopes his book faithfully captured her life’s work.
A lengthy article about pioneering black filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, the son and grandson of Great Bend Exodusters, was turned down for publication so Keenan posted the article on the internet—which seemed like a miraculous invention at the time. This led to several film festivals in Great Bend and Marty became friends with filmmakers and writers.
Marty encouraged author Patrick McGilligen to write a successful biography on Micheaux, but when Keenan learned that World War II spy Joan Bondurant (1918-2006) was a Great Bend native, he spent 15 years writing her biography in his spare time. The book was released on Amazon this year as BONDURANT: The Spy Who Cracked Gandhi’s Code (2026).
Keenan was inspired to complete the book and release it by his neighbor in Wichita, Jillian Forsberg. Publishing a book was new to Keenan, but he has sold 150 copies and considers the book a success simply because it was published. Keenan’s Oscar-winning friend Kevin Willmott gave him this pearl of wisdom:” Don’t let other people define success for you.” The book deals mostly with India and Gandhi as Bondurant learned Japanese and helped crush Imperial Japan with bombs, but met Gandhi during the war and became the top author in the West about Gandhi’s philosophy of conflict. Bondurant is unknown outside a tiny circle of Gandhi scholars but he hopes his book faithfully captured her life’s work.
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