I read the Wikipedia page for Mildred Wirt Benson. She wrote 23 of the first 30 Nancy Drew novels, bestsellers in the 1930s and 1940s, under the pen name, Carolyn Keene. It’s not clear how much of the plots in the books are hers and how much are from the syndicate that paid her. They gave her an outline for each book and she filled in the details. She enjoyed writing women who got up and did stuff, not limited to staying home. She was good at writing and has many books to her credit, in several different series.

She married twice, had one child, and was widowed twice. She wrote for the Toledo Blade newspaper for 58 years. She had to write; they had to have something to live on! After the death of her second husband, though, she earned her pilot’s license and flew for several years. She traveled to Central American archeological sites several times. She reminds me of the 1930s explorer in the movie UP: “Adventure is out there!”