Edward Stratemeyer

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Edward L. Stratemeyer (Template:IPA-cen;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> October 4, 1862 – May 10, 1930) was an American publisher, writer of children's fiction and founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate. He is one of the most prolific writers in the world, having penned over 1,300 books<ref name="Omnibus II 2005 p. 148">Omnibus II (2005). Veritas Press. p. 148.</ref> and selling more than 500 million copies.<ref>Omnibus II (2005). Veritas Press, p. 148.</ref>

Stratemeyer created many well-known children's fiction book series, including The Rover Boys, The Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift, The Hardy Boys, and Nancy Drew, many of which sold millions of copies and remain in publication. On his legacy, Fortune wrote: "As oil had its Rockefeller, literature had its Stratemeyer."<ref name="lookingglassreview.com">Template:Cite web</ref>

Early life

Stratemeyer was born the youngest of six children in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to Henry Julius Stratemeyer, a tobacconist, and Anna Siegel. They were both from Hanover, Germany, immigrating to the United States in 1837.<ref name="Nancy Drew's Father">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The siblings were educated in English and spoke it to each other.<ref name="Edward Stratemeyer">Template:Cite web</ref>

Growing up, Stratemeyer read the works of Horatio Alger and William T. Adams, writers who penned rags-to-riches tales of the hardworking young American, which greatly influenced him.<ref name="Edward Stratemeyer" />

As a teenager, Stratemeyer operated his own printing press in the basement of his father's tobacco shop, distributing flyers and pamphlets among his friends and family. These included stories called The Newsboy's Adventure and The Tale of a Lumberman. After he graduated from high school, he went to work in his father's store. At the age of 26, he sold his first story, Victor Horton's Idea, to the children's magazine Golden Days for $76, over six times the average 1888 weekly paycheck.<ref name="Nancy Drew's Father"/><ref name="online-literature.com">Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

Stratemeyer moved to Newark, New Jersey, in 1890 and opened a paper store. He ran his shop while continuing to write stories under pseudonyms. He was able to write for many genres including detective dime novels, westerns and serials that ran in newspapers.<ref name="online-literature.com"/>

In 1893, Stratemeyer hired the popular dime-novel writer Gilbert Patten, according to Patten's own autobiography, Frank Merriwell's 'Father': An Autobiography by Gilbert Patten (Burt L. Standish) (University of Oklahoma Press, 1964).<ref>Frank Merriwell's 'Father': An Autobiography by Gilbert Patten (Burt L. Standish), amazon.com. Retrieved 16 April 2024.</ref> Patten writes that he did not like Stratemeyer. (A less-reliable source says that Stratemeyer was hired by Patten to write as an editor for the Street & Smith publication Good News.<ref>John A. Dinan in Sports in the Pulp Magazines (via Google Books). p. 66 (1998).</ref>)

In 1894, he published his first full-length book, Richard Dare's Venture, which was the first in his Bound to Succeed series. It contained autobiographical content and was similar to Alger's rags-to-riches story formula.<ref name="online-literature.com"/>

In 1899, Horatio Alger wrote Stratemeyer as editor of the Good News, asking him to finish one of his manuscripts. Alger was in poor health at the time. When Alger died later the same year, Stratemeyer continued to edit and finish several of Alger's other books. That same year, after Alger died, Stratemeyer wrote and published The Rover Boys, which became a tremendously popular series in the vein of the classic dime novel. The Rover Boys was described as "The first highly successful series by Edward Stratemeyer; each volume had a preface from Edward Stratemeyer himself, thanking his readers and touting the other books. It's generally accepted that Stratemeyer wrote all of the books." He said this series was his personal favorite.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Stratemeyer formed the Stratemeyer Syndicate in 1905 and hired journalists to write stories based on his ideas. He paid them a flat rate for each book and kept the copyrights to the novels.

Personal life

Stratemeyer married Magdalena Van Camp, the daughter of a Newark businessman, on March 25, 1891.<ref name="lookingglassreview.com" /> The couple had two daughters: Harriet Stratemeyer Adams (1892–1982) and Edna C. Squier (1895–1974), both of whom would later take over the future Stratemeyer Syndicate.<ref name="Edward Stratemeyer"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Stratemeyer enjoyed the outdoors and often took annual summer trips to the Great Lakes, Lake George and Lake Champlain with his family. They traveled as far as the west coast and Yosemite. A humble man, he never sought public attention and preferred living a private and quiet life with his family at their home on N. 7th Street in the Roseville section of Newark. His relationships with his daughters were warm and Harriet recalled a lively atmosphere growing up.<ref name="Edward Stratemeyer"/>

Stratemeyer was a member of the Roseville Athletic Club and the New Jersey Historical Association.

Stratemeyer died at age 67 in Newark, New Jersey on May 10, 1930, of lobar pneumonia<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Hillside, New Jersey.<ref>Old Burial Grounds of New Jersey: A Guide</ref> On May 12, 1930, two days after his death, the New York Times reported that his Rover Boys series "had sales exceeding 5,000,000 copies".<ref name="Edward Stratemeyer"/>

Accomplishments

Stratemeyer pioneered the book-packaging technique of producing a consistent, long-running series of books using a team of freelance writers. All of the books in the series used the same characters in similar situations. All of the freelance writers, including Mildred Benson, who developed the character of Nancy Drew, were published under a pen name owned by his company.

Through his Stratemeyer Syndicate, founded in 1906, Stratemeyer employed a massive number of editors, copy writers, stenographers, cowriters and secretaries. They greatly contributed to a new genre of juvenile fiction<ref name="Omnibus II 2005 p. 148"/> and helped launch several series, including<ref name="SS1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Fictional depictions

Edward Stratemeyer appears in the television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. In the series, Stratemeyer is the father of the fictional Nancy Stratemeyer, who dates Indiana Jones in high school. Indiana is a fan of Tom Swift and gives Stratemeyer advice for one of his stories.<ref>Template:Cite episode</ref>

See also

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References

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Further reading

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