On April 22, Keenan will teach an in-person class about her book, titled The Snow Killings: Inside the Oakland County Child Killer Investigation (2020). This book is not an academic tome, but rather a well-narrated accounting of the investigation of the murders of four children from 1976 to 1977, told from the viewpoint of a detective and the family of one of the victims.

Keenan was a lifestyle columnist and feature reporter for The Detroit News from 1989, until she retired in 2015. She began writing her book in 2015 and realized that retirement was not what she expected.

“It was a big surprise,” she said. “After two decades of twice-weekly deadlines I couldn’t wait to retire. I thought for sure that every day is a Saturday.

“Initially, I was surprised about how much time I had on my hands. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to navigate.”

Keenan figured out who she is and what her life means without her career.  She stays active filling her time with family and hobbies including knitting, cooking, reading, swimming, and running. Keenan said that she used to run long distances up until three or four years ago when she had issues with her knees and hips.

“I’m a runner and I’ve had to curtail my running because of injuries,” she said. “I was a half-marathon runner and did 10 K’s. I soon realized – as everybody does – that your body doesn’t go on forever.

“The physical therapist suggested swimming. She said you can run shorter distances if you supplement it with swimming. I’m swimming laps now. I’m learning how to cross-train by swimming laps and running. Now, I run about three miles a day.”

Keenan, 68, lives in Bloomfield Hills with her husband, Chris, an art director in advertising. They have three daughters: Caelan, 32, living in Vermont, Aidan, 30, in Cincinnati, and Ellen, 28, in Minneapolis.

“Three daughters are my greatest accomplishment,” she said. “They’re my greatest gift. Just a blessing to a fault. They are smart, wonderful, kind, independent, lovely women.”

Keenan “loves to read” and recently read The Book of Longings (2020) by Sue Monk Kidd and is now reading The Art of Memoir (2015) by Mary Karr. As far as writing a memoir herself, Keenan said she doesn’t know.

“I wrote a lifestyle column for 20-some years,” said Keenan. “I wrote about me — motherhood, my views on things, my perspective of the world. There is a lot that could be mined there.

“The last 10 years I’ve been in a very dark place writing this book. It would be a nice break from that.”