Who wrote the original nancy drew books

The secret syndicate behind nancy drew jstor daily. But she was the owner of the business, so it wasnt my place to think about it. Velvet mask was to be mildreds last nancy drew bookthe syndicate was moving in a different direction and did not write to mildred again regarding the writing of new manuscripts. The hardy boys, frank and joe hardy, are fictional characters who appear in several mystery series for children and teens. The series revolves around the teenagers who are amateur sleuths, solving cases that stumped their adult counterparts. The first nancy drew book she wrote was the secret of the old clock, which she wrote in 1959. Millie wrote 23 of the first 30 original nancy drew books, 17, 1125, 30. Stratemeyer pioneered the technique of bookpackaging whereby a series of books was written by a team of freelance writers. Mildred wirt benson holds the credit to being the primary writer of the nancy drew book series. Carolyn keene is a pen name used by a variety of authors for the classic nancy drew mystery series. Nancy drew mystery stories series by carolyn keene.

Benson ghostwrote 23 of the first 30 nancy drew books for the stratemeyer syndicate, the publisher also behind the hardy boys and the bobbsey twins. Harriet stratemeyer adams, benson said, made nancy into more of a traditional sort of a heroine. Iowan mildred wirt benson authored original nancy drew. Billman credits stratemeyer himself with writing the first three nancy drew novels. The books are ghostwritten by a number of authors and published under the collective pseudonym carolyn keene.

Credit must be given to edward stratemeyer who realized that girls wanted a strong female character of their own. Wirt benson testifies and is publicly on the record as being the original carolyn keene. Nancy drew original and revised text books this page explains how you can often quickly determine whether a nancy drew book contains the original or revised text from just the outside appearance of the book. It was this characterization that helped make nancy an instant hit. Carolyn keene nancy drew and friends umd libraries. The hardy boys were also created by edward stratemeyer, a few years before nancy drew. Although edward stratemeyer created the characters and synopsis for the first few nancy drew books, he did not write them himself, and the actual writers agreed not to reveal their names. The original text books with 25 chapters, 1930 to 1956. To her readers, she was carolyn keene, one of at least two and perhaps as many as six writers who used that pseudonym for the original 56. In addition, the keene pen name is credited with the nancy drew spinoff, river heights, and the nancy drew notebooks edward stratemeyer, the founder of the syndicate, hired writers, beginning with mildred wirt, later mildred wirt. The transgender man who wrote nancy drew by david farah, author of farahs guide mildred lillian augustine wirt benson, arguably the person who had the greatest influence on the american feminist movement of the 20th century, was a female to male transgendered person, born in a womens body and assigned a womens place in society but self. The nancy drew books are written by a number of ghost writers all listed under the same pen name, carolyn keene. Nancy drew starter set by carolyn keene, hardcover. The adventurous writer who brought nancy drew to life arts.

That knowledge makes searching online for original text books much easier, since you do not have to click on every single listing to. Generally, my opinion of the original text books is that they are quaint, old fashioned versions of the familiar stories. She wrote the books under the pseudonym carolyn keene. The story of nancy drew, once far more ballsy than the.

The nancy drew mystery stories was the longrunning main nancy drew series, published between 1930 and 2003. Mildred wirt benson, or millie, wrote many books throughout her lifetime. The comments to will the real nancy drew step forward. I am aware that the author, carolyn keene, is just a pseudonym for a number of writers who wrote book in the nancy drew series. The adventurous writer who brought nancy drew to life. Millie benson, 96, holds one of her nancy drew mystery books in this 2001 photo. Tucked away in a corner, it is cluttered with papers and books. Over the course of more than 600 books, nancy drews adventures. Mildred wirt benson, who wrote 23 of the first 30 nancy drew novels those spinechilling tales of the fearless teenage sleuth who motored about in a blue roadster solving crimes.

This is close to the truth, but not the whole story by a long shot. Who is the recent nancy drew writer who wrote 50 books. The nancy drew mystery stories book series by multiple authors includes books the secret of the old clock, the hidden staircase, the bungalow mystery, and several more. Nancy has blond hair and drives a smart blue roadster. Each succeeding generation of women and men who read the books as. The early nancy drew is smart, adventurous, flippant, and daring. The secret of the old clock, the hidden staircase, the bungalow mystery, the mystery at the lilac inn, the secret at shadow ranch, and the secret of red gate farm. Nancy drew ghostwriter and journalist mildred wirt benson.

Written under the pseudonym carolyn keene, readers met the plucky young. A recent article about the cw series referred to carolyn keene as the original nancy drew author and stated that harriet stratemeyer adams later rewrote some of the novels. The author of the best books about americas favorite teenage sleuth is iowas mildred wirt benson, who wrote as carolyn keene. Under the name carolyn keene, she wrote 23 of the 30 original books. Nancy drew was a 16year old high school graduate who lived with her father, carson drew, a lawyer. Ohio auction will feature items from girl detective nancy. The nancy drew mystery stories is the longrunning main nancy drew series, which was published under the pseudonym carolyn keene. Over the decades, the character evolved in response to changes in us culture and. Other writers who have adapted the carolyn keene moniker include leslie mcfarlane, james duncan lawrence, walter karig, and nancy axelrod. I read the revised text books as a child and first read the original text books as an adult. There are 175 novels plus 34 revised stories that were published between 1930 and 2003 under the banner. The first six nancy drew books, in original editions just as you remember them, are available in a collectible slipcase.

What years were the original nancy drew books written. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. In the years that followed, she wrote several books for the syndicate. According to the new york times, the hardy boys creator edward stratemeyer first conceived of nancy drew in 1929.

Publisher edward stratemeyer conceived of the nancy drew. Harriet stratemeyer adams, who wrote nearly 200 childrens books including many of the nancy drew and hardy boys series, died saturday evening. If you read the books from the beginning till the later books the original one to sixtyfour ones, you could discern the level of intricacy of the mysteries that nancy. There is actually no such person as carolyn keene, this is just a name that has been used by many people over the years when writing nancy drew books. By some estimates, as many six different writers were. Heralded by many feminists as a strong female rolemodel, nancy drew has had an extremely positive influence on her young readers over the years. Mildred wrote 23 of the original 30 nancy drew mystery stories. Although edward stratemeyer created the characters and synopsis for the first. Having a single name like carolyn keene attached to the nancy drew books. Mildred wirt benson, who wrote the text of 23 of the first 25 nancy drew books under the direction of edward stratemeyer, was still an active newspaper columnist when she died in may of 2002 at the age of 96. Stratemeyer gave me outlines of two or three pages, and i wrote the nancy drew books from them, the author who later became mildred wirt benson told the plain dealer magazine in 1992. The character of nancy drew ghostwritten and credited to the pseudonymous carolyn keene has appeared in a number of series over the years 533 nancy drew books have been published as of 2019, in nine series, as follows. Carolyn keene and the mystery of the real nancy drew author. Mildred wrote books 17, 1125 and 30 in the nancy drew series from the first book, the secret of the old clock and the final being the clue of the velvet mask.

The first 34 nancy drew books in the original texts published from 1930 to 1956 contain 25 chapters and around 210 to 225 pages each. See the complete nancy drew mystery stories series book list in order, box sets or omnibus editions, and. The question of who wrote the nancy drew books was a mystery for many years. Mildred wirt benson, who wrote the text of 23 of the first 25 nancy drew books under the direction of edward stratemeyer, was still an active newspaper columnist when she died in. That new nancy drew show debuts wednesday night on cw. The first nancy drew book, the secret of the old clock, was written by mildred wirt benson. But instead of facing the original books problems, adams avoided it altogether, simply eliminating offensive characters and turning nancy drews universe into a less and less diverse place revised book by revised book. The characters were created by american writer edward stratemeyer, the founder of bookpackaging firm stratemeyer syndicate.

Bensons original nancy drew, depicted in books such as the hidden staircase, the secret at shadow ranch, and the clue in the crumbling wall, was a. Carolyn keene is the pseudonym of the authors of the nancy drew mystery stories and the dana girls mystery stories, both produced by the stratemeyer syndicate. The original author of the nancy drew mystery books, now at age 96, is still writing now a weekly column about everyday life and. Mildred wirt benson, who wrote 23 of the first 30 nancy drew novels those spinechilling tales of the fearless teenage sleuth who motored about in a blue roadster solving crimes died on. Nancy drew books, in one form or another, have been popular for more than 70 years. Drew fans learned that benson was the original carolyn keenethe. The stratemeyer syndicates devotion to the series over the years under the reigns of harriet stratemeyer adams helped to keep the series alive and on store shelves for each succeeding generation of girls and boys. If you are wondering what makes an original nancy drew bookit is one that has not been.