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Last edited by raybb
January 13, 2025 | History
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Mildred Augustine Wirt Benson

Mildred Augustine was born in Ladora, Iowa. In 1925 she graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in journalism, and she immediately went to work for the Clinton Herald. In 1926 she moved to New York City, hoping to find work as a writer. There she met Edward Stratemeyer, owner of Stratemeyer Syndicate. In 1927 she returned to the University of Iowa, where she went on to earn a Master's degree in journalism. She stayed in touch with Stratemeyer, and she wrote a novel for the "Ruth Fielding" series. She wrote several more pseudonymous novels while working on her degree, and she was eventually offered a new series, abound the girl detective Nancy Drew. Under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene, she wrote 23 of the first 25 books in the series.

In 1928, she married Asa Wirt, a journalist, and changed her name to Mildred A. Wirt. The couple moved to Toledo, Ohio, and Mildred continued to write fiction under her own name, her personal pseudonyms, and Stratemeyer's house pseudonyms. In the mid-1940s, she also resumed journalism, reporting for the Toledo Times. In 1947, her husband died, and in 1950 she married George A. Benson, her editor at the Toledo Times newspaper, and changed her name to Mildred Benson. In 1959, George Benson died.

By the mid-1960s, she had stopped writing fiction and was working full-time as a court reporter for the Toledo Times. She had also earned her pilot's license and become an enthusiastic aviator. When the Times went out of business in the 1970s, she went to work for the Toledo Blade, where she continued to until the day she died from lung cancer.

The University of Iowa honored her with its Distinguished Alumni Award in June 1994, and she was inducted into the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame in August 1994. In 2001, she received a Special Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for her contributions to the Nancy Drew series.

Photo of Mildred Augustine Wirt Benson

house pseudonym used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate

Born 1905-07-10
Died 2002-05-28

2589 works Add another?

  • Cover of: Cupcake Chaos

    First published in 2013 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: Bad Day for Ballet (Nancy Drew Notebooks)

    First published in 2008 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: Mystery of the Fire Dragon

    First published in 2021 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: Haunted Showboar

    First published in 1957 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: Trouble at Camp Treehouse (Nancy Drew Notebooks)

    First published in 1995 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: The haunted lagoon (Dana girls mystery stories)

    First published in 1959 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: The Mystery At Lilac Inn

    First published in 1930 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: The haunted showboat; and The secret of the golden pavillion

    First published in 1959 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: The clue in the crumbling wall: Mystery of the tolling bell

    First published in 1973 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: Alice 06 - Alice et la pantoufle d'hermine

    First published in 2006 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: The Zoo Crew.

    First published in 2008 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: ND Girl Detective #23 Troubled

    First published in 2007 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: The Clue of the Velvet Mask : Nancy Drew Mystery Stories: Volume 30

    First published in 1953 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: The clue of the leaning chimney (Nancy Drew mystery stories)

    First published in 1949 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: Ski School Sneak

    First published in 2009 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: Valentine's Day Secret

    First published in 2009 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew

    First published in 2007 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: Ticket Trouble

    First published in 2009 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: Fake Heir

    First published in 2006 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: Strangers on a Train

    First published in 2013 — 1 edition
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Photo of Mildred Augustine Wirt Benson

house pseudonym used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate

Born 1905-07-10
Died 2002-05-28

Subjects

Mystery and detective stories, Children's fiction, Drew, nancy (fictitious character), fiction, Fiction, Juvenile fiction, Detective and mystery stories, Nancy Drew (Fictitious character), Women detectives, Mystery, Hardy boys (fictitious characters), fiction, series:HardyBoys, series:NancyDrew, Adventure and adventurers, Juvenile Fiction, Mystery fiction, collectionID:HBND2, Dana Girls (Fictitious characters), Adventure and adventurers, fiction, Friendship, fiction, Adventure stories, Children's stories, Drew, Nancy (Fictitious character), Dana girls (fictitious characters), fiction, Love, fiction, Friendship

Places

United States, Costa Rica, New York (N.Y.), Berkshire Hills (Mass.), Hawaii, New York, Paris (France), San Francisco (Calif.), Wyoming, Alaska, Annapolis (Md.), Arizona, Austria, Belgium, California, Canada, Chicago, Chicago (Ill.), Chincoteague Island (Va.), Detective and mystery stories, Egypt, England, France, Greece, Health Resorts

People

Nancy Drew (Fictitious character), Nancy Drew, Blackbeard (d. 1718), Darwin family, Edward Teach (d. 1718), Nancy Dreww, Stede, d. 1718 Bonnet

Time

Civil War, 1861-1865

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Alternative names

  • Carolyn Keene
  • Mildred A. Wirt
  • Harriet Adams
  • Leslie McFarlane
  • James Duncan Lawrence
  • Walter Karig
  • Nancy Axelrad
  • Patricia Doll
  • Charles S. Strong
  • Alma Sasse
  • Wilhelmina Rankin
  • George Waller Jr.
  • Margaret Scherf
  • Susan Wittig Albert
  • carolyn keene
  • Frank Bell
  • Joan Clark
  • Don Palmer
  • Dorothy West
  • Ann Wirt
  • Wirt, Mildred A.
  • Mildred Augustine Wirt
  • Mildred W. Benson
  • Mildred Wirt
  • Mildred (Augustine) Wirt
  • Mildred A Wirt
  • Mildred a. Wirt
  • Mildred A.(Benson) (Augustine) Wirt
  • Carolyn (Mildred A. Wirt) Keene
  • Carolyn (Mildred A. Wirt) (Grace Grote - Revision) Keene
  • Alice B. Emerson
  • Elizabeth M. Duffield Ward
  • W. Bert Foster
  • Alice Dale Hardy
  • Mabel C. Hawley
  • Mildred Benson
  • Helen Louise Thorndyke
  • Ramy Allen White
  • Josephine Lawrence
  • B. Alice Emerson
  • Frances K. Judd
  • Alice Quine
  • C. Quine
  • Caroline QUINE
  • Carole Quine
  • Caroline Quine
  • QUINE Caroline
  • Quine Caroline
  • Mildred A. Benson
  • ann wirt
  • Mildred A Benson
  • Joan Joan Clark

History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON
January 13, 2025 Edited by raybb Edited without comment.
December 20, 2024 Edited by bitnapper merge authors
December 20, 2024 Edited by bitnapper merge authors
December 18, 2024 Edited by bitnapper merge authors
April 1, 2008 Created by an anonymous user initial import