Did you know that Nancy Drew's original ghost-writer, Mildred Wirt Benson (aka Carolyn Keene) was born and raised in Ladora, Iowa, a small hamlet located right on Historic Route 6?
Mildred graduated from the University of Iowa in 1925 with a degree in English, and returned two years later to become the first student to earn a Master's degree in journalism at the college.
She worked 58 years as an American journalist and authored a number of children's books. But it was the early Nancy Drew mysteries she is best known for. Wirt-Benson is credited for creating the independent, spunky and adventurous spirit of the female sleuth that captured young girls' imaginations.
"From the very beginning Nancy exhibited all the qualities that have made her beloved by generations of readers. The teen sleuth was the last brainchild of Edward Stratemeyer, owner of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, who had already created such popular series as the Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift, and the Hardy Boys. Seeing a need for a girls’ mystery-adventure series, he created Nancy and hired a young journalist to write the stories based on plot outlines that he provided her. The Secret of the Old Clock,by “Carolyn Keene,” was published in 1930 — the same year that Edward Stratemeyer died. His daughter Harriet Adams carried on the work of supervising the series and later wrote many of the books herself," Nancy-Drew.Mystery.com notes. (Read more at the site by clicking HERE.)
Happy 88th birthday, Nancy Drew! And thank you, Mildred Wirt Benson, for creating her for all of us to enjoy these eight decades later.
Order Fourth Wall Films' Emmy-nominated RIVER TO RIVER: IOWA'S FORGOTTEN HIGHWAY 6 and learn all about the Nancy Drew connection! http://www.fourthwallfilms.com/dvds.htm
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