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We now know that Mildred A. Wirt was the ghostwriter “Carolyn Keene” for 23 of the first 30 Nancy Drew books. (Mildred was born Mildred Augustine and married men named Wirt and Benson.) Mildred Wirt Benson (1905-2002) was herself an independent, resourceful woman and she endowed Nancy and many of her other heroines with these same qualities. It is these strong and vivid characteristics of Nancy Drew that made her so beloved of readers and still wildly popular after 75 years. Mildred Wirt Benson respected the oath of silence she had agreed to with Edward Stratemeyer until the 1980 trial of a lawsuit brought by Grosset & Dunlap against the . Even afterwards, news of her identity as the original Carolyn Keene did not become widely known until the Nancy Drew Conference of 1993 at the University of Iowa. Ghostwriter Mildred Wirt Benson and the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Mildred Wirt Benson surrounded by many of the books she has written. Photo taken from: Rediscovering Nancy Drew . University of Iowa Press, 1995, p.61. The Dana Girls. The Dana Girls was another Stratemeyer series that used the pseudonym Carolyn Keene to cash in on the popularity of Nancy Drew. Leslie McFarlane wrote the first four volumes; Benson wrote volumes 5 through 16; Harriet Stratemeyer Adams and other ghostwriters continued the series. Keene, Carolyn. The Clue in the Ivy . New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1952. Jean and Louisa. Jean and Louisa Dana are orphaned sisters sixteen and seventeen years old. They live with their Uncle Ned and Aunt Harriet and attend Starhurst boarding school while they solve mysteries. Keene, Carolyn. Mystery at the Crossroads . New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1954. Keene, Carolyn. The Portrait in the Sand. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1943. Nancy Drew Mystery Stories. Nancy Drew became the ideal of the independent woman that readers wanted to be themselves. Mildred Wirt Benson herself realized this when she stated: “It seems to me that Nancy was popular, and remains so, primarily because she personifies the dream image which exists within most teenagers. Definitely, Nancy had all the qualities lacking in her author. She was good-looking, had an oversupply of college dates, and enjoyed great personal freedom. She never lost an athletic contest and was far smarter than adults with whom she associated. Leisure time was spent living dangerously. She avoided all household tasks and, indeed, might rate as a pioneer of Women’s Lib.” Mildred Wirt Benson, “ Fulfilling a Quest for Adventure ”, p. 62 Rediscovering Nancy Drew. Keene, Carolyn. The Hidden Staircase. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1930. Keene, Carolyn. The Quest of the Missing Map . New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1942. Mystery Stories. Like Nancy Drew, Kay Tracey has one parent—her widowed mother. Her cousin Bill, a lawyer, also lives with them. Her friends Betty and Wilma Worth help her solve mysteries which often involve missing inheritances or fortunes. This Stratemeyer series was written under the pseudonym Frances K. Judd. Benson wrote volumes 3 through 14. Judd, Frances. The Message in the Sand Dunes . New York: New York Books, Inc., 1952. Ruth Fielding. Edward Stratemeyer first hired Mildred Wirt Benson to write volume 23 of the Ruth Fielding series, Ruth Fielding and Her Great Scenario , in 1927, several years before he gave her the Nancy Drew books to write. Emerson, Alice B. Ruth Fielding and Her Great Scenario, or Striving for the Motion Picture Prize . New York: Cupples & Leon, 1927. [Lent by Rebecca Mooney] Orphan Detective. Ruth Fielding is an orphan who becomes a successful detective, movie writer, actress, and director. The decline in popularity of the books as Ruth Fielding marries and grows older may have convinced Stratemeyer to keep his heroines ageless. Emerson, Alice B. Ruth Fielding of the Red Mill . New York: Cupples & Leon, 1913. Doris Force. Under the pseudonym of Julia K. Duncan, Mildred Wirt Benson wrote Doris Force at Locked Gates and Doris Force at Cloudy Cove, the first two books in this four volume series, for the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Doris Force is an orphan with a beautiful voice who wants to be an opera singer. Duncan, Julia K. Doris Force at Locked Gates . Henry Altemus Company, 1931. . Honey Bunch was one of the most popular Stratemeyer girls’ series. It was written under the pseudonym Helen Louise Thorndyke and was aimed at younger children. Josephine Lawrence wrote the first 16 volumes starting in 1923. Benson wrote volumes 18-22. Thorndyke, Helen Louise. Honey Bunch: Her First Big Adventure . New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1933. About. To celebrate the 75th year of publishing of Nancy Drew books, The University of Maryland Libraries featured an exhibit on Girls’ Series books in the fall of 2005 in Special Collections and University Archives Exhibit Gallery. This exhibit highlights the girls’ series books in the Rose and Joseph Pagnani Collection. This collection was donated to the University of Maryland Libraries Special Collections in 1998 and contains over 300 books from 33 different girls’ series published from 1917 to 1980. Although Nancy Drew is the star of the exhibit, other girls’ series heroines such as Vicki Barr, , Judy Bolton, and the Dana Girls are also included. Curator: Ann Hudak Assistant Curators: Kathleen Brown, Rebecca Mooney, and Dun Yee Wong Editors: Eric Lindquist and Doug McElrath Graphic Designer: Rebecca Wilson. Stay Connected. Contact Us. Hornbake Library is located on University of Maryland’s College Park campus. This library is home to the Exhibit Gallery, Special Collections & University Archives and Library Media Services. For general information about the library and our collections, contact us For questions about the exhibit and related events, please email us or call 301-405-9210. Semester Hours. Monday & Tuesday: 10:00am-5:00pm Wednesday: 10:00am-8:00pm Thursday & Friday: 10:00am-5:00pm Saturday: Closed Sunday: 1:00pm- 6:00pm. Bargain Sleuth Book Reviews. Just a Wisconsin woman with a passion for books and bargains. As an affiliate with several websites, I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. The Clue of the Leaning Chimney (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #26) by Carolyn Keene. My Nancy Drew fatigue continues, although the reading of this week’s book didn’t take long at all. To save my sanity, I decided that I am only going to read the Original Text (OT) and skip over the Revised Texts (RT) until I get to a volume where the story is completely different. I read the RTs repeatedly growing up, and about 5 years ago I read the first 70 of the books again, so reading them again just seems like such a chore after reading the OTs. I’ve never read the OTs before, so to me, that’s the more important version to read right now. “A rare and valuable Chinese vase is stolen from a pottery shop which leads Nancy, Bess, and George on the trail of thieves. Along the way they search for a leaning chimney and missing pottery experts.” In The Clue of the Leaning Chimney (OT) (Amazon) (Abebooks) Bess’s cousin Dick Milton, who runs a pottery shop, has a borrowed valuable Chinese vase to display in the shop’s window. Nancy, of course, has literally run into a man crossing the road at night during a storm. When she gets out to help him, she notices a package he has and it’s ripped open slightly. It turns out that what’s in that package is that same vase Bess was telling Nancy about. Cousin Dick of course asks Nancy to help find the missing vase, as well as a kaolin clay pit that is reportedly in the area. It’s reportedly the best type of clay to make pottery. In order to find it, Nancy needs to find a leaning chimney. And we’re off on another mystery. There appears to be a number of similar thefts of Chinese pottery that may or may not be connected (of course they are! This is a Nancy Drew book, after all). There’s also the mysterious disappearance of a Chinese pottery expert and his daughter that Nancy has been tasked to find. Considering the OTs usually have issues with racial insensitivity, the utmost respect of the Chinese culture is given by Nancy and her friends, with some lessons on written characters and ceramics. That doesn’t mean there aren’t some cringe-worthy moments, like on page 163 when Nancy is interviewing a post office clerk: “The clerk shook his head decisively. ‘The man I talked to,’ he said, ‘was Chinese.’ ‘Chinese!’ she exclaimed. ‘Are you sure?’ ‘Sure I’m sure!’ the clerk retorted. ‘I guess I can tell a Chinese when I see one!’ ‘What did he look like?’ Nancy persisted. The clerk stared at her helplessly. ‘Why, uh–like a Chinaman!’ he replied.” I did double check and this passage is still in the RT, which was updated in 1967. Something I also noticed in this book is that unlike the Nancy Drew Diaries, where Nancy seems to be constantly full of self-doubt and fearful, “Nancy felt a wave of panic, but she swiftly steeled her nerves. Now was the time for cool, analytical reasoning, she told herself firmly; not a surrender to sudden fears.” That is the Nancy Drew I remember. Overall, the mysteries are good, and the solutions aren’t as convoluted as some Nancy Drew books. This is a solid entry in the series. Once again, with the original cover art, Bess is depicted as having brown hair. This happened with the last book, The Ghost of Blackwood Hall as well. And Bess and George are in dresses, when it is clearly stated in the book that they were doing yard work and wearing jeans when Nancy picked them up to go investigate the leaning chimney. Also, Nancy’s long locks have been cut, and her hair is no longer golden blonde, but closer to the titian color that was later adopted. On the RT’s cover of The Clue of the Leaning Chimney , (AbeBooks) (Amazon) Nancy’s hair looks like it’s dark blonde, not strawberry-blonde. No wonder there’s been confusion over the years about Nancy’s hair! For my Nancy Drew book reviews, click here. For more information about my favorite sleuth, check out Jenn Fisher’s Unofficial Nancy Drew website, which has a wealth of information. For more information on series books, Jennifer White has a fabulous website that you can visit by clicking here. Who was Carolyn Keene? Behind many Nancy Drew books was a Jersey girl. When Nancy Drew burst onto the scene in 1930, no one could have known she’d go on to solve hundreds of mysteries, both in print and on screen. But perhaps the biggest mystery over those nine decades was the identity of the real-life woman behind her — Carolyn Keene, according to each book cover. To fans, she was the woman responsible for their spunky yet grounded role model, a teen sleuth who had the wits to get out of any jam. Keene, or so they thought, had created a character embraced by girls every decade since her debut, whose fearless spirit, many say, continued to inspire them into adulthood. So who, exactly, was this woman, to whom fans felt they owed their gratitude? It’s a story complicated by literary rights and the age-old truth of there being two sides to every story. And it’s a story — like so many things in pop culture — that begins in New Jersey. The literary tycoon. Nancy Drew was one of the many characters dreamed up by Edward Stratemeyer, a publishing titan who pioneered the mass production of children’s book series, including those starring , , the Bobbsey Twins and the Rover Boys. Stratemeyer was born in Elizabeth in 1862, the son of German immigrants. He spent much of his childhood consuming dime novels, then went on to write his own after graduating from Elizabeth’s Public School No. 3. He also wrote for children’s story magazines and newspapers before writing books, many under different pen names. But as demand for his stories grew, he decided to form a literary syndicate, allowing him to come up with ideas for the characters and plots of different series and assign them out to writers. His fiction factory, the Stratemeyer Syndicate, was established around 1905. Each series stuck to a basic formula and was published under a pseudonym, allowing him to shift ghostwriters as needed. Much of the work was coordinated from his home in Newark, before he opened an office in Manhattan. Sales skyrocketed. In a 1926 poll published by the American Library Association, 98% of young readers listed a Stratemeyer book as their favorite. But not everyone was fan. Stratemeyer had gained a bad reputation among some librarians, who felt his books — filled more with action than moral virtue — were rotting children’s brains (a reminder: this was before the advent of television). That apparently included a librarian at the Newark Public Library, who according to scholars removed his books from the shelves (a move he reportedly said only increased sales in Newark). Though Stratemeyer had already monopolized the children’s market, he was always pursuing new ideas to further his publishing empire. Adults in the 1920s were clamoring for crime and mystery books, thanks in large part to Agatha Christie and others who popularized the genre. Assuming younger readers would follow suit, Stratemeyer came up with the Hardy Boys — two teenage brothers who solve mysteries. The books, written under the pen name Franklin W. Dixon, would be mostly written by a Canadian writer, Leslie McFarlane. After the series debuted in May 1927, Stratemeyer began thinking about another detective series, this time starring a female sleuth who would be the equal of Frank and Joe Hardy. Stratemeyer sent his editors at Grosset & Dunlap a pitch for the new series, as well as the plots and titles of the first five books, in late 1929. The ghostwriter, he decided early on, would be a recent college grad who had written stories for magazines and was just starting to write for the Stratemeyer Syndicate. That writer was Mildred Wirt from Iowa, who in 1927 became the first woman to graduate with a master’s degree from the Iowa School of Journalism. “(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. Each manuscript ended up being 200 to 300 pages, she said. “The combination of Stratemeyer’s outline and editing with Mildred’s efforts had produced a fantasy girl with a few touches of the real — possibly touches of Mildred, who had added some of Nancy’s bolder moves and snappier dialogue to Stratemeyer’s outline,” Melanie Rehak writes in “Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her.” Their Nancy Drew had it all. She was pretty (but not too pretty), clever (but not a know-it-all) and popular (but would eventually spend most of her time with close pals Bess and George). Her boyfriend, , who also debuted in later books, was both good-looking and dependable. In addition, Nancy came from an upper-class household, with money never a concern when it came to fashion or her roadster, a car that gave her the independence most readers could only dream of. It was these qualities, Rehak writes, that made “Nancy Drew” a success even amid the financial strains of the Great Depression. Nancy was something every girl wanted to be. The first three books — “The Secret of the Old Clock,” “The Hidden Staircase” and “” — debuted on April 28, 1930, months before the stock market would crash. Stratemeyer, 68, died of pneumonia 12 days after their release, having no idea he had just launched one of the most beloved characters in young adult fiction. Soon after Stratemeyer was buried in Hillside’s Evergreen Cemetery, it became apparent that his wife and daughters knew little about how he ran his business. The family hoped to sell the company, but with the economy flailing, they were unable to find a reliable buyer. So Stratemeyer’s daughter Harriet took over with the help of her sister, Edna. Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, a graduate of Barringer High School and Wellesley College, had spent much of her adult life keeping house for her husband and four children. But with her husband’s encouragement, she essentially became CEO of the company, something almost unheard of for a woman in the 1930s. To keep close to their families, the sisters moved the Stratemeyer Syndicate offices to the Hale Building on Main Street in East Orange, not far from Harriet’s home in Maplewood. The first Carolyn. Determined to keep their most profitable series going, the Stratemeyer sisters continued churning out outlines for ghostwriters, including Benson, who would write 23 of the first 30 original Nancy Drew mysteries. Stratemeyer’s secretary, Harriet Otis Smith, and a handful of other ghostwriters also made early contributions to the series. All of the syndicate’s ghostwriters were required to keep their true identities a secret and had signed away rights for any royalties on the books. Benson was paid $125 each for most of the manuscripts. Those who knew Benson say she was not unlike the character she helped create. She was a go-getter, usually working on multiple writing projects at once (she also wrote for other Stratemeyer Syndicate series, in addition to books under her own name). She became a newspaper reporter during World War II — a rarity for women even then. And she was an adventurer in her own right, traveling by canoe to explore archaeological sites in Central America and learning to fly at age 59, according to multiple interviews before her death. “She was gutsy and daring, a living embodiment of her Nancy Drew heroine,” John Robinson Block, then publisher and editor in chief of The Toledo Blade, where Benson worked until her death at age 96, told The Associated Press in 2002. But even as the books and the name Carolyn Keene took on a life of their own, few people knew Benson was responsible for most of the earlier books in the series. When fan mail came for Carolyn Keene to the offices in East Orange, would respond on stationery indicating it came from Ms. Keene, Rehak writes in “Girl Sleuth.” The second Carolyn. But while scholars say Benson is most responsible for originating Nancy’s voice, Adams ultimately shaped and refined it. At first, that meant just editing manuscripts as they came in and having the final say over each book. But scholars and other experts say she also felt responsible for protecting the Nancy Drew brand, whether in print or on screen once movie and television rights were sold. Quoting letters between Benson and Adams in “Girl Sleuth,” Rehak portrays an often-tense relationship, with each woman indicating they knew what was best for the character. By the 1950s, Adams decided she would take on the writing for the series, eventually writing 26 more books. She would also oversee a rewrite of the series that started in 1959. The books were modernized, sometimes shortened, and rid of stereotypes and other language deemed offensive as society changed. All in all, the books contained “no profanity, religious confrontations, sex, extraordinary violence or murder,” Adams told the Hunterdon County Democrat in an interview in 1977. There were “no family problems, and each book must have some subject you can learn about,” she said. Nancy herself got an update in the series revision. She began to wear fewer hats and gloves and favored loafers over heels. Even her age changed, from 16 to 18 — now the legal age to drive. In an interview with the Democrat in 2007, Adams’ daughter Patricia Harr emphasized her mother’s dedication to the business. “I don’t think a day went by that she didn’t work, writing or editing,” Harr said. “She was so much like her father, a hard-nosed business person, yet creative,” Cynthia Lum, a granddaughter, told the newspaper. In addition to writing and editing, Adams spent her time caring for her four children and was known locally as a dedicated Sunday school teacher. Her family spent weekends and holidays at a farm they owned in Tewksbury. But as time progressed and Nancy Drew became even more ingrained in popular culture — especially during the women’s movement of the 1970s — few people knew who had written the books. Over the years, several newspapers had outed Benson as a ghostwriter for the series, but perhaps because they were local newspapers, the secret never really got out. That began to change in the ’70s, when Adams started to exert more protection over the character and told reporters she was the author behind the books. Benson, who never collected royalties from any books, movies, games or anything else that had been associated with the brand, then began speaking up in the media herself. The truth, though, ultimately spilled out in a 1980 federal court case involving the books’ publisher, still Grosset & Dunlap, and the rights to the series. Benson gave a powerful testimony that was covered by national media. And for the next 20 years, until her death in 2002, reporters and scholars would herald her as the original Carolyn Keene. But Adams and her family also share much of that credit. Adams continued to write and lecture until her death in 1982. Her family and the remaining Stratemeyer Syndicate partners eventually sold their shares to Simon & Schuster, which continues to distribute the books. All in all, Nancy Drew has sold more than 70 million copies and spawned spinoff series, not to mention numerous movie and TV reboots. But no matter how many iterations there are or who deserves the credit, one truth remains: Even after 90 years, America can’t help but continue to fall in love with its favorite teenage sleuth. Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission. Disclaimer. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (User Agreement updated 1/1/21. Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement updated 5/1/2021). © 2021 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. 10 Interesting Facts about Carolyn Keene. Have you ever heard Facts about Carolyn Keene ?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. In addition, the Keene pen name is credited with the Nancy Drew spin- off, River Heights and the .The first Carolyne Keene was a journalist, Mildred A. Wirt Benson, who wrote many of the books starting in 1929. Facts about Carolyn Keene 1:The Girl Detective. Nancy Drew: Girl Detective replaced the long-running Nancy Drew mysteries series, which began in 1930. This new series is written in first person narration, from Nancy’s point of view, and features updated and overhauled versions of the main Nancy Drew characters. Facts about Carolyn Keene 2:The Stratemeyer Syndicate. The Stratemeyer Syndicate. The Stratemeyer Syndicate was the producer of a number of mystery series for children, including Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, the various Tom Swift series, the Bobbsey Twins, the Rover Boys, and others. Facts about Carolyn Keene 3:Mildred Wirt Benson. She wrote some of the earliest Nancy Drew mysteries and created the detective’s adventurous personality. Benson wrote under the Stratemeyer Syndicate pen name, Carolyn Keene, from 1929 to 1947 and contributed to 23 of the first 30 Nancy Drew mysteries, which were bestsellers. Facts about Carolyn Keene 4:The First Book. The Secret of the Old Clock is the first volume in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series written under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. It was first published on April 28, 1930, and rewritten in 1959 by Harriet Stratemeyer Adams. Facts about Carolyn Keene 5:The Best Book. The Hidden Staircase is the best book even until recent time.The Hidden Staircase is the second volume in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series written under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene, published in 1930 and revised in 1959.The original text was written by Mildred Wirt Benson, and she has said that it is her personal favorite of the Nancy Drew Books she wrote. Facts about Carolyn Keene 6:The Last Book. The Phantom of Venice. The Phantom of Venice is the last book of Carolyn keene which was originally written by James Duncan Lawrence in 1985. Facts about Carolyn Keene 7:Controversy. In their original incarnations, the wildly popular Nancy Drew series of mystery books, first written by a two-woman team (under the pen name Carolyn Keene) in the 1930s, were rife with racism and anti-Semitism. Facts about Carolyn Keene 8:Selling Record. The first Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys: Super Sleuths book was published in 1981, after switching over to Simon & Schuster. The book contained seven short stories in which Nancy Drew crosses over to solve mysteries with The Hardy Boys; both the Carolyn Keene pseudonym and The Hardy Boys’ Franklin W. Dixon pseudonym are used. The story was so popular, that it spawned a sequel, a spin-off series, and a Campire Stories companion. Facts about Carolyn Keene 9:Current Prices. The Classic novel of Carolyn Keene which is Nancy drew, is still sold at the price ranged betwteen 20 to 40 dollar for each copy. Facts about Carolyn Keene 10:Collectibles. Nancy Drew Collectible Set. There are many classic original printed version of Nancy Drew that been sold in the internet with really reasonable price.They sell this product in collector set edition which inlude several title in one package. That is all, i hope you like these 10 interesting Facts about Carolyn Keene .