Press Conference with Mildred Wirt Benson—April 17, 1993

Abstract

Press Conference with Mildred Wirt Benson—April 17, 1993 Nancy Tillman Romalov (bio) Mildred Augustine Wirt Benson was born in Ladora, Iowa, a small rural town 100 miles west of the Mississippi River. Her writing career began at the age of 12, when her first short story appeared in St. Nicholas Magazine. Later she would have stories published in Youth's Companion, Lutheran Young Folk, and Boy Life. After receiving her degree in English from the University of Iowa in 1925, Wirt worked for a year as a reporter in Clinton, Iowa, before she headed to New York City, where she hoped to land a writing job. The job failed to materialize, but she did get an interview with Edward Stratemeyer, head of a syndicate that produced the Rover Boys and numerous other series books. Wirt had responded to an advertisement Stratemeyer had placed in a trade magazine for authors interested in writing for children. Shortly after her return to Iowa, where she would soon become the first woman to receive a master's degree in journalism from the University of Iowa (1927), Wirt received her first book request from Stratmeyer, who wanted her to revive the once popular Ruth Fielding series. She wrote the last seven volumes of that series between 1927 and 1933; she used a pseudonym and signed over all authors' rights and royalties in exchange for a flat fee of $125. Pleased with her work, Stratemeyer asked her if she would be interested in beginning a series that would be a girls' counterpart to the Hardy Boys. Wirt agreed—and Nancy Drew was born. Wirt wrote the first nine Nancy Drew stories between 1930 and 1932, when she broke her association with the Stratemeyer Syndicate over a salary dispute. (During the worst of the Depression, payment dropped from $125 to $75 per book.) In 1934, she was back on the payroll and wrote 16 more Nancy Drew titles, the last of which The Clue of the Velvet Mask (1953). Wirt Benson (she had married in the meantime) continued to write other juvenile books while working on Nancy Drew; eventually she authored over 100 books for children. In addition to Nancy Drew, Benson wrote the Penny Nichols books (as "Joan Clark"), Doris [End Page 81] Force mysteries (as "Julia K. Duncan"), Kay Tracey mystery stories (as "Frances K. Judd"), Boy Scout Explorers books (as "Don Palmer"), Honey Bunch (as "Helen Louise Thorndyke") Dot and Dash stories (as "Dorothy West"), and numerous works under her own name, including her favorite, the Penny Parker series. All the while, she worked full time as a reporter for the Toledo Blade. Her interest in archeology led to nine trips to Mayan Indian sites in the Yucatan and more remote parts of Central America. Her sense of adventure led her to take up flying "when wiser persons welcome Social Security" (Benson). The comparison between Benson and her fictional sleuth is irresistible. Inspite of the standardization of formula that characterizes series book writing, most researchers agree that Mildred Benson was the reason Nancy was the way she was. Benson was forbidden by contract to talk publicly about her association with Nancy Drew or the syndicate that produced the books until very recently. The following edited press conference took place at the "Nancy Drew Conference" in Iowa City on April 17, 1993. It marks the first time national media have had the opportunity to interview Mildred Wirt Benson, the first "Carolyn Keene." Benson: As a favor I would like to ask that you not use my age. I know some of you will do it anyway, so I'm going to tell you—I'm 130 years old today. If you're going to violate my wish, please put it in accurately and say 130. Q: When you were first starting to write Nancy Drew, what did you want the character to convey? B: Well, I didn't analyze it that way, I just started with a name Nancy Drew and just began to write and it evolved as a rule. I had no special plan. Q: Have you had a chance to read any of the recent Nancy Drew books and if you...