Editing Mildred Benson (section)

==Writing career==
Benson began her career selling short stories to magazines such as ''[[St. Nicholas (magazine)|St. Nicholas]]'' and ''Lutheran Young Folks''. During her college years, she worked at ''[[The Daily Iowan]]'' under editor [[George Gallup]], and after receiving her undergraduate degree, for the society pages of the ''[[Clinton Herald]]''.<ref name="USA" /><ref name="Martin" /><ref name="UIA Bio">{{Cite web |title=The Tale of the Ghost Writer |url=https://www.lib.uiowa.edu/iwa/mildred/biography/ |access-date=June 1, 2023 |website=[[University of Iowa]]}}</ref>

In addition to her work with the [[Stratemeyer Syndicate]], Benson also wrote many other series both in her name and under other pseudonyms from the 1930s to the 1950s. She ultimately wrote under a dozen names and published more than 130 books.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nancydrewsleuth.com/mwbworks.html|title=The Mildred A. Wirt Benson Website|last=Fisher|first=Jennifer|website=nancydrewsleuth.com|access-date=April 14, 2016}}</ref><ref name="OLIVER">{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-may-30-me-benson30-story.html|title=Mildred Benson, 96; Author Gave Life to Nancy Drew|last=OLIVER|first=MYRNA|date=May 30, 2002|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|issn=0458-3035|access-date=April 14, 2016}}</ref> In 1930 and 1931, Benson wrote the Ruth Darrow series. Taking flying lessons and flying her own aircraft, Ruth wins a national cross-country race, lands on an [[aircraft carrier]], helps the [[United States Forest Service|Forest Service]] in fighting forest fires, and alerts the [[United States Coast Guard|Coast Guard]] of an immigrant-smuggling scheme. The series has been highlighted as unusual for its time, for both its generally authentic aeronautical lore, and the consistent and outspoken advocacy of women's abilities and mechanical competence.<ref>{{Cite book|title = From Birdwomen to Skygirls: American Girls' Aviation Stories|last = Erisman|first = Fred|publisher = TCU Press|year = 2009|isbn = 978-0-87565-397-6|location = Fort Worth, Texas|pages = 84–92}}</ref><ref name="digital.lib.uiowa.edu">{{Cite web|url=http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/bai/lapin.htm|title=Books at Iowa: The Ghost of Nancy Drew|website=digital.lib.uiowa.edu|access-date=April 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141130144517/http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/bai/lapin.htm|archive-date=November 30, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

From 1939 to 1947, Benson wrote the [[Penny Parker]] books which were published under her own name. Parker was the daughter of a newspaper editor who sought to become a reporter herself, often becoming involved in mysteries and dangerous situations. Parker was modeled after both the Nancy Drew character and Benson herself, but also gave Benson creative control of the character and her stories that she did not have for the Nancy Drew series. Benson would later cite Parker as her favorite of the characters she wrote, and considered her to be "a better Nancy Drew than Nancy is."<ref name="bustle">{{Cite web|url=http://www.bustle.com/articles/97957-original-nancy-drew-ghostwriter-mildred-wirt-benson-was-a-feminist-badass-who-deserves-to-be-championed|title=Original Nancy Drew Ghostwriter Mildred Wirt Benson Was A Feminist Badass Who Deserves to Be Championed As Much As Her Famous Sleuth |website=bustle.com|date=July 17, 2015 |access-date=April 16, 2016}}</ref><ref name="Visci">{{Cite news|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2015/07/14/nancy_drew_ghostwriter_and_journalist_mildred_wirt_benson_flew_airplanes.html|title=The Original Ghostwriter Behind Nancy Drew Was One of The Most Interesting YA Writers of All Time|last=Visci|first=Marissa|date=July 14, 2015|newspaper=Slate|issn=1091-2339|access-date=April 14, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://old.post-gazette.com/obituaries/20020529nancyobit3p3.asp|title=Obituary: Mildred Augustine Wirt Benson / Author of first 23 Nancy Drew mysteries|publisher=Philadelphia Post-Gazette|author1=Mark Zaborney|author2=George J. Tanber|accessdate=20 October 2015}}</ref>

Benson began working at the ''[[The Blade (Toledo, Ohio)|Toledo Blade]]'' in 1944, and continued there for 58 years. After the death of her second husband in 1959, Benson focused on journalism. In the 1990s, she began writing a weekly column for the ''Toledo Blade'' titled "On the Go". She continued this and writing [[Obituary|obituaries]] full-time until a few months before her death.<ref name="USA" /><ref name="Visci" />

===Stratemeyer Syndicate===
In the spring of 1926, literary publisher [[Edward Stratemeyer]] wrote an ad looking for [[ghostwriters]] for the [[Stratemeyer Syndicate]]. Benson applied with mentioning that she had plans to move to [[New York City]] where Stratemeyer's offices were located. At his request, Benson sent Stratemeyer some of her work with which he was impressed. While vacationing, she met Stratemeyer in New York in July and was offered to undertake the [[Ruth Fielding]] series.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rehak |first=Melanie |title=Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her |publisher=Mariner Publishing |year=2006 |isbn=9780156030564 |pages=101–107 |language=en}}</ref> Under the pseudonym of [[Alice B. Emerson]], Benson wrote [[Ruth Fielding|''Ruth Fielding and Her Great Scenario'']].<ref name="Martin"/><ref name="ReferenceA"/> Stratemeyer credited Benson's writing for reviving sales of the Fielding series.

Syndicate ghostwriters took the outlines supplied by Stratemeyer and wrote the novel based from an outline sent to them. After her initial meeting with Stratemeyer, Benson never saw him again; the work was done through correspondence. As with all Syndicate ghostwriters, under the terms of her contract, Benson was paid a flat fee of $125 to $250 for each Stratemeyer-outlined text,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/09/weekinreview/conversations-mildred-benson-ghostwriter-her-sleuth-63-years-smarts-gumption.html|title=Conversations/Mildred Benson; A Ghostwriter and Her Sleuth: 63 Years of Smarts and Gumption|last=Brown|first=Patricia Leigh|date=May 9, 1993|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=April 14, 2016}}</ref> the equivalent of three months' pay for a newspaper reporter at that time. Ghostwriters signed away all rights to their texts and any claim to the Syndicate pseudonym used. Writers were, however, permitted to reveal that they wrote for the Syndicate. The Syndicate protected their pseudonyms to preserve series continuity as contributors to the series came and went.

In 1929, Stratemeyer developed a new series of detective novels with Benson in mind as the ghostwriter. He initially titled the heroine "Stella Strong", though upon selling the series to Grosset & Dunlap, they chose the alternative name "Nan Drew" and lengthened the name to [[Nancy Drew]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rehak |first=Melanie |title=Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her |publisher=Mariner Publishing |year=2006 |isbn=9780156030564 |pages=110–115 |language=en}}</ref> While Stratemeyer supplied the outlines of the first four novels for Benson, she developed Nancy's spunky, plucky personality, and her daring, adventurous spirit. Benson sought to make the heroine an unusually liberated woman for her time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wgte.org/wgte/watch/item.asp?item_id=110|title=Storied Life of Millie Benson -|website=WGTE Public Media|access-date=April 14, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314033632/http://www.wgte.org/wgte/watch/item.asp?item_id=110|archive-date=March 14, 2016}}</ref> She later said about writing the initial books, "I always knew the series would be successful. I just never expected it to be the blockbuster that it has been. I'm glad that I had that much influence on people."<ref name="OLIVER"/>

Shortly after finishing work on ''[[The Mystery at Lilac Inn]]'', and only a few weeks after the launch of the series, Stratemeyer died. Under the terms of his will, all Syndicate ghostwriters, including Benson, were sent one-fifth of the equivalent of the royalties the Syndicate had received for each book series to which they had contributed.<ref>{{cite book | last=Johnson | first=Deidre | title=Edward Stratemeyer and the Stratemeyer Syndicate | publisher=Twayne Publishers Maxwell Macmillan Canada Maxwell Macmillan International | publication-place=New York Toronto New York | year=1993 | isbn=0-8057-4006-6 | oclc=27172193 | page=11 |quote=Stratemeyer had arranged that each of his writers [be sent] a sum equal to one fifth of their earnings from the Syndicate}}</ref> Stratemeyer's daughters, [[Harriet Adams]] and Edna Stratemeyer, initially attempted to sell the company as per his wishes, but were unable to find a buyer due to the [[Great Depression]]. They ultimately continued their father's work, and kept correspondence with Benson. Though Benson briefly quit the Nancy Drew series, she continued writing the Fielding books until the series was cancelled by its publisher in 1934. Upon returning to the Nancy Drew series in 1934, Adams and Stratemeyer were able to convince her to also write the [[Kay Tracey]] and [[Dana Girls]] series they had developed. The Dana Girls, which also used the Carolyn Keene pseudonym, had been written by [[The Hardy Boys]] ghostwriter [[Leslie McFarlane]] until he quit following the initial four books.<ref name="lib.umd.edu"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nancydrewsleuth.com/mwbdg.html|title=The Mildred A. Wirt Benson Website|last=Fisher|first=Jennifer|website=nancydrewsleuth.com|access-date=April 14, 2016}}</ref>

Benson continued writing for the Syndicate until the early 1950s, when the Syndicate underwent management changes. Beginning in 1959, Adams began revising and updating the Nancy Drew books written by Benson. Adams also made changes to Nancy's personality that had been crafted by Benson, making her less assertive and spunky. In 1980, Grosset & Dunlap called Benson as a witness during a lawsuit against the Syndicate for contracting new titles with their competitor [[Simon & Schuster]]. Benson's testimony revealed her identity to the public as a contributor to the Nancy Drew mystery stories. After the death of her sister in 1973, Adams claimed she had written the series since her father's passing; she had received considerable publicity for this especially since both The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew were [[The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries|adapted for television]] in the late 1970s. Since the revelation and subsequent research into Syndicate files, Benson has been acknowledged the creator of the original Nancy Drew along with Edward Stratemeyer.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/1999/10/08/keene_q_a/|title=Who was Carolyn Keene?|last=Benfer|first=Amy|website=Salon|date=October 8, 1999|access-date=April 14, 2016}}</ref><ref name="newreleasetoday.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newreleasetoday.com/authordetail.php?aut_id=260|title=Mildred A. Wirt Benson Author Profile {{!}} Biography And Bibliography {{!}} NewReleaseToday|website=www.newreleasetoday.com|access-date=April 14, 2016}}</ref> In 2001, Benson received a Special [[Edgar Award]] from the [[Mystery Writers of America]] for her contributions to the Nancy Drew series.<ref name="Visci"/>

Benson's favorite Nancy Drew story was ''[[The Hidden Staircase]]'', the second mystery in the series.<ref name="newreleasetoday.com"/> Whenever asked, she would gladly autograph copies of the Nancy Drew books, but only the titles she actually wrote.