There have always been a lot of questions about Carolyn Keene. Who is she? Did she really write all those books? Is she a real person? Where did she dream up all those ideas for Nancy’s adventures?

I know that in my mind, I saw her as a serious author, typing away at her trusty typewriter. She looked (in my vivid imagination) amazingly like Nancy Drew, with a Sam Spade attitude, and she based the books on her own personal detective experiences. How did she ever find time to write in between all that sleuthing? She was obviously as amazing and talented as Nancy herself. I eventually came to suspect that Carolyn Keene was the pen name that she used to hide her real identity as a famous and talented detective, because of course she couldn’t use her real name. But I never suspected the truth...

Nancy Drew was dreamed up by Edward Stratemeyer, who started the Stratemeyer Syndicate. She was to be more or less the girls' answer to the Hardy Boys books, which had already been successful for several years.

Edward Stratemeyer drew up the outlines for the first three books and hired Mildred Wirt to write the stories based on his outlines. The first three books were published in 1930 and became quite successful.

Stratemeyer died shortly thereafter, and his daughters, Edna Stratemeyer and Harriet Adams took over the business. After a while, Edna played a minor role, while Harriet took over most of the operations. Harriet wrote the outlines for more stories, and maintained a great deal of control over the contents. Millie went on to write four more books through volume 7. Walter Karig, who had been writing for the Syndicate, then wrote the next three books through volume 10, and then Millie took over once again with volume 11. She ended up writing 23 of the 56 ‘classics’ (volumes 1-7, 11-25, and 30), and is the one who many fans credit being the real Carolyn Keene, although she is one of many.

After Millie, came a succession of authors, who continued to keep Nancy active in her sleuthing endeavors. Harriet claimed authorship for many of the books, and while she did actually write many of the books (including volumes 31, 33-56) along with the outlines, many other people shared the claim to fame as being Carolyn Keene.

The identity of Carolyn Keene was a closely guarded secret for many years. The writers signed agreements to not reveal that they had written the books, and until a court case revealed their identities in 1980, Keene was a mystery in her own right.

With the Nancy Drew offshoot series, such as the Files, Notebooks, On Campus, and so forth, came even more authors.

They are all Carolyn Keene.

You can find out more details about Carolyn Keene and the names of many of the authors online at The Nancy Drew Unofficial Website and at The Stratemeyer Syndicate.

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