Happy 119th Birthday to author Mildred Wirt Benson!
Mildred was born July 10, 1905 in Ladora, IA. As a child, she loved to read and go on adventures. She also developed a skill in writing short stories. Her first to be published was The Courtesy in the June 1919 issue of St. Nicholas magazine for which she won a silver badge. So much more followed, having been inspired by winning that badge. She wrote dozens of short stories, 135 published books and thousands of newspaper articles and columns over many decades of a journalism career that began in Iowa and ended in Toledo, Ohio where she was working on a column at the Toledo Blade the day she passed away at age 96 on May 28, 2002.
I wanted to share some images of some of Mildred's work over the years. You can learn a lot more about her at my website and learn about the biography that I am writing on her. As a real life Nancy Drew, her's was a life well lived and lived so adventurously, much like her series book heroes and heroines. Scroll down for some highlights and info on a book she wrote that was never published - click on images to see larger views.
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June 1919 issue of St. Nicholas - The Courtesy
Mildred's first book - Ruth Fielding and Her Great Scenario
For the Stratmeyer Syndicate, pen name Alice B. Emerson
Author's Copy - Univ of IA Women's Archives
Jennifer Fisher Nancy Drew Collection
First Printing - The Secret of the Old Clock
Written by Mildred as Carolyn Keene for the Syndicate
Breeder set of the first 3 Nancy Drew Books - April 28, 1930 Debut
Mildred's Madge Sterling Series for Goldsmith
Written under the pen name of Ann Wirt
Read: The Great Madge Sterling Caper or How Nancy Drew Might Have Been
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