Nancy Drew, Girl Detective
My
husband handed me a news article, "You might be interested in this." I
read the headlines, "Nancy Drew author dies" and was fascinated by
this remarkable lady, Mildred Agustine Wirt Benson, the woman who wrote the
first 25 books about Nancy Drew. When I was growing up in central Kansas, I read
everything I could lay my hands on and devoured the series of Nancy Drew
mysteries along Ruth Fielding and other similar series books.
She was born on July 10, 1905 in Ladora, Iowa. Her father, J. L. Augustine was a doctor and as a child, she hated dolls, but played with hundreds of tiny wooden spools. "When I grow up, I’m going to be a writer" was Millie’s only vowed ambition. She started writing while in school and the St. Nicholas Magazine of New York published her first story in 1917 when she was 12. She published her first book while attending the University of Iowa, where she won championships for diving. She sold almost 100 short stories to pay for her schooling and worked for the student newspaper before graduating with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. She was also a reporter for the Clinton, Iowa Herald. In 1927 she received a masters degree in journalism, the first woman to get that degree from University of Iowa.
Millie married Asa Wirt, an Associated Press correspondent and they moved to Cleveland and then later to Toledo, Ohio. She had one daughter, Peggy Wirt. Asa Wirt died in 1947. She married George Benson in 1950 who was editor of the Toledo Times; he died in 1959. She worked as a reporter for the Toledo Times until it folded in 1975 and then became a reporter for the Toledo Blade. She worked as a reporter for the rest of her life.
During the time she was working on her masters, she submitted a trial manuscript for the Ruth Fielding series to the Stratemeyer Syndicate that also produced the Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift, Rover Boys and the Hardy Boys. Under the pen name of Carolyn Keene, Millie, became the ghostwriter of the Nancy Drew series but her first manuscript disappointed Stratemeyer. He thought Nancy was much too flip and would never be well received. Millie, however, as the first author developed a feisty spirited tomboyish heroine that became immensely popular. Millie was paid a flat fee of $125.00 for each book and was required to sign away nearly all rights, even the name of Carolyn Keene. The head of the Stratemeyer Company died and his daughters took over the company and one of the daughters, Harriet Adams, claimed she was the author of the books until her death in 1982. In 1980, Millie was called to testify as a witness in a case involving the Stratemeyer Syndicate and the truth came out about whom the real author was. Millie ended her career as author of Nancy Drew series with "The Ghost of Blackwood Hall" in 1948 and her final Drew, "The Clue of the Velvet Mask in 1953.
Millie
was just as feisty as Nancy Drew; she earned a pilots license at age 59 for
private, commercial and seaplanes and took nine trips to the jungles of Mexico
and Guatemala as she was interested in Mayan civilization. She claimed that much
of her writing was based on an unfulfilled desire for adventure. She thought
that Nancy fulfilled the dream image of most teenagers; she was good looking,
had plenty of boyfriends, lots of personal freedom, never lost an athletic
competition and was smarter than most adults. She spent her leisure time
dangerously and avoided all household tasks – perhaps a pioneer for Women’s
Lib. Millie said she did feel as if she was Nancy, but she also felt kinship to
other characters in some of her other books.
Millie
also wrote under the pen names of Frank Bell (Flash Evans books); Mildred
Benson; Joan Clark (Penny Nichols mysteries); Julia K. Duncan (Doris Force
Mystery Stories); Alice B. Emerson, (The Ruth Fielding Series); Francis K. Judd,
(Kay Tracey Mysteries); Carolyn Keene (Dana Girls Mysteries); Don Palmer, (Boy
Scout Explorer Series); Helen Louise Thorndyke (Honey Bunch books); Dorothy West
(Dot and Dash books); Ann Wirt (Madge Sterling Series); Mildred A. Wirt (various
mysteries and the Brownie Scout Series, Dan Carter Cub Scout Series, Girl Scout
Series, Penny Parker mysteries, Ruth Darrow Flying Stories and the Trailer
Stories for Girls) an impressive array of over 120 books total. Her publisher
used several pen names, as they did not wish to flood the market with too many
books by the same author.
Millie
Benson signed away rights to printed mediums and was not recognized as the
author of the Nancy Drew series until the court trial in 1980. Perhaps
difficulties with licensing is the reason very few Nancy Drew dolls have been
produced – I could find only one. In 1967, Alexander Doll Company produced a
Nancy Drew doll as part of the Literature Series. The doll was produced for one
year only as Nancy Drew and only used subsequently as the face for dolls with
other names, such as Marc Anthony, Napolian, Pinkie and Blue Boy, one of the
Sound of Music children - Maria, and Scarlett.
The
12-inch doll has a vinyl head with rooted hair, plastic eyes, real lashes and
painted lashes, closed mouth generally with a pale color and jointed hard
plastic body. She is not the most sought-after doll of the Alexander line. It is
regrettable that a Nancy Drew doll has not been made that reflects the true
adventurous spirit of the famous girl detective, heroine to eras of female
readers and also reflects the undefeatable spirit of the author, Mildred
Augustine Wirt Benson who defined and created her personality. Millie Benson was
diagnosed with lung cancer in 1997 and continued working on her monthly column
up to end – she died May 29, 2002, an admirable woman who challenged the
imagination of young people with her books and articles and will remain part of
our American heritage.
Photos: All Mildred Wirt photos, courtesy Toledo Blade; Sound of Music MA dolls , McMasters Doll Auctions; Scarlett, book, private collection.
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