Rediscovering Nancy Drew

4. The History of the Stratemeyer Books: Questions and Answers

The History of the Stratemeyer Books: Questions and Answers Deidre Johnson, Phil Zuckerman, and Esther Green Bierbaum Didn't Mildred Wirt Benson sign away her rights to authorship? And if she did, how is she now able to state that she was the original author ofNancy Drew? ZUCKERMAN: Technically, she can't. It is true that she did sign away her rights and that's a matter of commerce, I think. But what's happened is that Nancy Drew has become more than commerce. It has become something that is now interesting historically. So it's time to rewrite history and correct the record.! Why do the publishers give Leslie McFarlane credit for writing the Hardy Boys when he signed the same release at approximately the same time as Benson? BIERBAUM: Even though McFarlane signed the same papers, he broke that contract when he wrote his autobiography, Ghost of the Hardy Boys, in 1976. Apparently the syndicate decided to let that record stand. As an issue of scholarship one would think it is time to correct the bibliographic record regarding Mildred Benson. Mr. Zuckerman, when Grosset & Dunlap and Simon & Schuster gave you permission to print the McFarlane introduction, what reason did theygive for not allowing Mildred Wirt Benson to introduce her work? ZUCKERMAN: Well, there was really no explanation. I really didn't seek an explanation per se. I discussed it, I talked about it, I said it 47 48 CREATING AND PUBLISHING NANCY DREW was something we really wanted to do, but beyond that a "no" is a "no" and it was not within my right to use it.2 What records did the Grosset & Dunlap and Simon & Schuster people allow you to review when you were putting together the reprints? ZUCKERMAN: I didn't really ask them for permission to review any of their records. One of the first people I went to was Didi [Deidre] Johnson and she forwarded me to Gil O'Gara [editor of Yellowback Library], who spread the news within the collectors' community. That's where we went to get all the information we could about the books. It seemed the collectors knew a lot more than anyone else about the books. Not to say that the Stratemeyer Syndicate does not know about it, but I think there is more information floating around within the realm of collectors. How many ofthe records from the Stratemeyer Syndicate are still in existence? Do we know who did the rewriting of the Nancy Drew Books? JOHNSON: We don't know exactly what records have survived.3 As far as authorship ofthe rewrites is concerned, it's been very fuzzy. Some people in the syndicate did them. The syndicate had staff writers and some of them did the rewrites, but beyond that, at least at present , we don't know. Harriet Adams said she wrote them, but it's hard to know how much was wishful thinking and how much really happened. As a buyer, how can I tell ifI have one ofthe modified editions? JOHNSON: The revised texts always have a formula: 180 pages and 20 chapters. The original ones tended to have 25 chapters-although there are variations to that-and they are closer to 214 pages on the average. Watch the copyright dates; they began to revise them in 1959. If you have an early copyright date on the first 34 volumes of the Nancy Drew series, that is, before 1959, then you probably have the original story. Mr. Zuckerman, from your perspective, don't you find it a little odd that Grosset & Dunlap feels threatened by your books, when you're essentially selling an entirely different product? ZUCKERMAN: The odd thing that I feel is that it was so difficult in the beginning to make people understand what these books were and THE HISTORY OF THE STRATEMEYER BOOKS 49 then finally it was understood and they got out into the marketplace and now it's a threat. It's like hitting your head against the wall to make it work and then hitting your head against the wall to try to make it work not so much so you get to do more. It's a very bizarre situation. Will Grosset & Dunlap take your idea and do it themselves? ZUCKERMAN: I don't think so. I'm not sure they have the right to do that. I don't know all the...