Andrew Edward Svenson

Background

Andrew Edward Svenson was born on May 8, 1910 in Belleville, New Jersey, the son of Andrew Svenson and Laura Soleau.

Education

Andrew Svenson attended Barringer High School in Newark, Carnegie Institute of Technology, the University of Pittsburgh (B. A. , 1932), and Montclair State Teachers College (now Montclair State College), from which he received a teaching certificate (1933).

Career

Andrew Svenson began as a feature writer for the Newark Star-Eagle (1933 - 1934) and then worked for the Newark Evening News as reporter, writer, and editor (1934 - 1948). Svenson joined the Stratemeyer Syndicate as writer and editor in 1948 at the urging of the syndicate's Howard R. Garis, creator of the wise rabbit Uncle Wiggly. Svenson began by writing entries in the Mel Martin series under the name John R. Cooper.

After contributing to the series devoted to the Hardy Boys (as Franklin W. Dixon) and the Bobbsey Twins (as Laura Lee Hope), he was made a partner in the syndicate in 1961, a position that gave him control of all aspects of his own series: the Happy Hollisters (as Jerry West), Bret King (as Dan Scott), the Tolliver Family (as Alan Stone), and the Wynn and Lonny racing series (as Eric Speed).

In various capacities, Svenson also contributed to other syndicate series, sharing the pen names with other authors: Tom Swift, Jr. (as Victor Appleton II), Christopher Cool - TEEN Agent (as Jack Lancer), Linda Craig (as Ann Sheldon), and Honey Bunch and Norman (as Helen Louise Thorndyke).

At the same time, he taught creative writing at two New Jersey institutions, Rutgers University (1945 - 1954) and Upsala College (1948 - 1954).

The work was then edited and refined until the story was finished, a process lasting about six weeks. In later years, he generated plot outlines that were used by assistants to create stories, which he then would edit.

Of the series that Svenson created and wrote himself, the Happy Hollister series was by any standard the most successful. Critics pointed out that the Hollisters represent a kind of dream family, who project themselves as members of a big, active, and harmonious group. They also alleged that the syndicate was a "book factory. "

Files were meticulously kept on each character, their organizations, prizes they won, and so on, even including the name of Nancy Drew's doctor, to ensure consistency. Svenson did library research for all his books and, indulging his interests in travel and photography, always made an effort to visit the locality to be used as background.

He once received a letter from a curator of an Alaskan museum praising him for the authenticity of the totem poles in one of his books (The Happy Hollisters and the Mystery of the Totem Faces, 1958). He also developed plots at the request of his readers. The Happy Hollisters and the Haunted House Mystery (1962) was written after Svenson received a fan letter from a deaf boy in Belfast, Northern Ireland, who suggested that he author a story about a deaf boy.

In his later years, Svenson worked in his home in West Caldwell, New Jersey, where he concentrated on the Wynn and Lonny motorracing series. For these he did the plot outlines and editing, with technical material supplied by a racing driver, Sylvia Wilkerson.

In the months before his death, he continued to write and was outlining a new Hardy Boys book as well as a new volume for his Wynn and Lonny series. Svenson died in Livingston, New Jersey.

Achievements

• Svenson's major achievement as an author was in initiation of three major series: the Happy Hollisters, which continued for seventeen years and thirty-three volumes and was translated into several languages; the Tolliver Family, which featured a black family similar to the Hollisters but was not as successful; and Bret King, which put detective fiction in a modern western setting. He completed a one-page chapter outline for a story and then dictated about ten pages of text into a recording device, from which his secretary would transcribe the text. Svenson was also interested in life of children with special needs. For example, he attended a school for the deaf, learned sign language, and incorporated this knowledge into the story.

Works

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  • Hardy Boys Clue Book Collection Books 1-4: The Video Game Bandit; The Missing Playbook; Water-Ski Wipeout; Talent Show Tricks

    (Join detective brothers Frank and Joe as they solve excit...)

  • Tom Swift Lives! Giant Robot: the teen super genius fights the strongman of metal! (Tom Swift reimagined! Book 4)

    (THE CLASH OF THE SUPER MACHINES! At the sprawling Swift E...)

  • The Hardy Boys Secret Files Collection Books 1-5: Trouble at the Arcade; The Missing Mitt; Mystery Map; Hopping Mad; A Monster of a Mystery (Hardy Boys: The Secret Files)

    (It’s five times the mysteries—and five time the fun—with ...)

  • The Adventures of Tom Swift, Volume One: Four Complete Novels

    (This volume assembles the first four Tom Swift adventure ...)

  • Hardy Boys Starter Set - Books 1-5 (The Hardy Boys)

    (A special treat for Hardy Boys fans! The first five books...)

  • The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore (The Original Bobbsey Twins) (Volume 3)

    (The Bobbsey Twins are the principal characters of what wa...)

  • The Bobbsey Twins In and Out (The Original Bobbsey Twins) (Volume 1)

    (The Bobbsey Twins are the principal characters of what wa...)

  • The Bobbsey Twins in the Country (The Original Bobbsey Twins) (Volume 2)

    (The Bobbsey Twins are the principal characters of what wa...)

  • The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore, Book 3, Newly Released Original Version

    (More adventures of Americas's favorite twins, in a new re...)

  • Honey Bunch: Her First Visit to the Seashore

    (Great older copy! Name on inside front page, no other mar...)

  • Honey Bunch: Just a Little Girl (#1 in series)

    (Happy days at home, helping Mama and the washer lady. And...)

  • Bobbsey Twins 01: The Bobbsey Twins of Lakeport

    (When their elderly neighor Mrs. Marden reports that some ...)

  • Honey Bunch: Just a Little Girl

    (Children's book from 1923)

  • Hardy Boys 01: The Tower Treasure (The Hardy Boys Book 1)
  • The Bobbsey Twins in the Great West

Views

Quotations: Andrew Svenson elaborated on the syndicate's techniques to the New Yorker (March 20, 1954), explaining that "whether we do yarns about ebermenschen or pig-tailed Philo Vances, we subscribe to the Stratemeyer formula. . A low death rate but plenty of plot. Verbs of action, and polka-dotted with exclamation points and provocative questions. No use of guns by the hero. No smooching. The main character introduced on page one and a slam-bang mystery or peril set up. "

Svenson did admit that there was an element of formula in the writing. "The trick in writing children's books is to set up danger, mystery and excitement on Page 1, " Svenson told Roger B. May in the Wall Street Journal (January 15, 1975). "Force the kid to turn the page. I've written Page 1 as many as 20 times. Then in the middle of each chapter there's a dramatic point of excitement, and, at chapter's end, a cliff-hanger. "

Membership

Andrew Svenson belonged to organizations that reflected the expanding depth of his interests: the American Association of University Professors, the American Professors of Journalism, the Mystery Writers of America, and the Western Writers Association.

Personality

In personal appearance Svenson was solid, brisk-moving, and darkhaired.

Interests

• Andrew Svenson was athletic, and competed as a sprinter in high school, and later in college.

Connections

Andrew Edward Svenson married Marian Stewart on August 31, 1932; they had six children.

Father:

Andrew Svenson

Mother:

Laura Soleau

Wife:

Marian Stewart

References

• Stratemeyer Pseudonyms and Series Books: An Annotated Checklist of Stratemeyer and Stratemeyer Syndicate Publications by Deidre A. Johnson (1982-06-18)