Carolyn Keene

Carolyn Keene is a pen name writer that has been used over the years by a lot of different people, both men and women. A number of writers were hired by the company that was the creator of the Nancy Drew series, the Stratemeyer Syndicate. The writers used the pseudonym Carolyn Keene for Nancy Drew to ensure the creator's anonymity. Edna and Harriet Stratemeyer inherited the company from their father, Edward Stratemeyer. Before passing the reins t... o her sister Harriet, Edna contributed ten plot outlines. It was Mildred Benson (aka: Mildred A. Wirt) who breathed into Nancy's character such a feisty spirit. Mildred, including the first three, wrote 23 of the original 30 Nancy Drew Mystery Stories. What helped make Nancy an instant hit was her characterization. During the years under Harriet Stratemeyer Adams' reins, the Stratemeyer Syndicates devotion to the series helped keep the series alive and in store for each successive generation of girls and boys. In 1959, Harriet began a 25-year project to revise the earlier Carolyn Keene novels together with several writers. Books from Nancy Drew have been condensed, racial stereotypes have been removed and the language has been updated. Other Nancy Drew volumes writers include Harriet herself, she wrote most of the series for the Syndicate after Mildred quit writing, and a revision of the first 34 texts began in 1959. Walter Karig, who wrote three novels during the Great Depression, was temporarily given the role of the writer of "Carolyn Keene." Leslie McFarlane, James Duncan Lawrence, Nancy Axelrod, Priscilla Doll, Charles Strong, Alma Sasse, Wilhelmina Rankin, George Waller, and Margaret Scherf also contributed to the prolific existence of Nancy Drews.READ MORE