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Thursday, June 22, 2006
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Franklin W Dixon does not exist!
I've just found out that the author of my favourite childhood mysteries, the Hardy Boys is just a figment of someone's imagination. You could have knocked me down with a feather when I found this out. I was that shocked.
Apparently, Franklin W Dixon was the Pen name used by Edward Stratemeyer to write the Hardy Boys series. As he was writing the series, he realized that he could not keep up with all the plots that he wanted to write. So, he assembled a few authors and gave them the job of writing the Hardy Boys mysteries, while he provided the basic outline and plot to which the mystery should be formed. Under the name of Stratemeyer Syndicate, these writers wrote the entire Hardy Boys series making it one of the most successful mystery series ever written.
It may be of interest to note that the Nancy Drew series was also a spinoff of the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Edna and Harriet Stratemeyer, the daughters of Edward Stratemeyer started off the Nancy Drew series, which has also been of immense success. The Hardy Boys casefiles has also been another successful spinoff with an emphasis on maturity in the myteries. The casefiles series often involved the Hardy's using guns and people actually dying, whereas, the regular series was not as violent as it was targeted at the younger generation.
As amazing as the fact that a great author such as Franklin W Dixon never existed was, the fact that the series was written by different writers explains a lot in terms of disparities in writing styles within the series. I remember thinking when I was in the peak of my Hardy Boys craze, "How could Franklin W Dixon write over a hundred books and not get tired at all?".
While it may be impossible (and highly improbable) that someone could write so many books without exhaustion, as proven by the Franklin W Dixon example, the impossible takes exception to one of the greatest and most widely written children authors of all time, Enid Blyton.
For more details on the history of the Hardy Boys, click here
And for a biography of Enid Blyton, click here
Apparently, Franklin W Dixon was the Pen name used by Edward Stratemeyer to write the Hardy Boys series. As he was writing the series, he realized that he could not keep up with all the plots that he wanted to write. So, he assembled a few authors and gave them the job of writing the Hardy Boys mysteries, while he provided the basic outline and plot to which the mystery should be formed. Under the name of Stratemeyer Syndicate, these writers wrote the entire Hardy Boys series making it one of the most successful mystery series ever written.
It may be of interest to note that the Nancy Drew series was also a spinoff of the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Edna and Harriet Stratemeyer, the daughters of Edward Stratemeyer started off the Nancy Drew series, which has also been of immense success. The Hardy Boys casefiles has also been another successful spinoff with an emphasis on maturity in the myteries. The casefiles series often involved the Hardy's using guns and people actually dying, whereas, the regular series was not as violent as it was targeted at the younger generation.
As amazing as the fact that a great author such as Franklin W Dixon never existed was, the fact that the series was written by different writers explains a lot in terms of disparities in writing styles within the series. I remember thinking when I was in the peak of my Hardy Boys craze, "How could Franklin W Dixon write over a hundred books and not get tired at all?".
While it may be impossible (and highly improbable) that someone could write so many books without exhaustion, as proven by the Franklin W Dixon example, the impossible takes exception to one of the greatest and most widely written children authors of all time, Enid Blyton.
For more details on the history of the Hardy Boys, click here
And for a biography of Enid Blyton, click here
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