Nancy Drew Enthusiast

Seventy-six Years Ago: Claire Lui, editorial assistant at American Heritage magazine, has written an overview of the launch of the Stratemeyer Syndicate's Nancy Drew seventy-six years ago on April 28, 1930.

Nancy Drew, the linchpin of the Stratemeyer Syndicate for the next 54 years, would be Edward Stratemeyer’s last hurrah. Twelve days after the first Nancy Drew book was published, he died of pneumonia. Nancy now became the work of two separate women: Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, the new head of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, and Mildred Wirt Benson, the ghostwriter behind most of the early mysteries. Together, Adams and Benson were Carolyn Keene, the author listed in the Library of Congress as Nancy Drew's author. Their differing visions of Nancy would eventually be reflected in two versions of the series.

Lui believes that Nancy, who has never gone out of print, and who is now appearing in new stories will last for at least another 76 years. Read article ...