Andrew E. Svenson facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Andrew E. Svenson (born May 8, 1910 – died August 21, 1975) was an American author who wrote many books for children. He was also a publisher and a partner in the famous Stratemeyer Syndicate. He wrote over 70 children's books. He used different pen names, sometimes sharing them with other writers. You might know his work from popular series like The Hardy Boys, Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift, and Honey Bunch. He also created The Happy Hollisters series as Jerry West.

Andrew Svenson's Early Life
College and Adventures
Marriage and Family
Starting His Career
The Stratemeyer Syndicate
- His Work on The Hardy Boys
- The Happy Hollisters
His Passing
See Also

Andrew Svenson's Early Life

Andrew Svenson was born in Belleville, New Jersey, in 1910. He was the oldest of three children. His younger brother, Arthur, became a business professor. His younger sister, Marjorie, became a nurse.

His family later moved to Newark, New Jersey. Andrew went to Barringer High School in Newark. He was very athletic. He competed as a sprinter in high school and later in college.

College and Adventures

Svenson first studied Engineering at Carnegie Institute of Technology. This school is now called Carnegie Mellon University. He soon realized that math was not his favorite subject. So, he transferred to the University of Pittsburgh. There, he focused on writing and graduated in 1932.

After his first year of college, Andrew went on a big adventure. He traveled across the country with his younger brother, Arthur. They bought an old car, possibly a Model T. It took them from New Jersey all the way to Montana. Then, the car's wheels literally fell off! The brothers then hitchhiked to Seattle. From there, they boarded a cargo ship. It took them back to the East Coast through the Panama Canal. They even stopped in Cuba before finally arriving home. Some people think this trip inspired future Hardy Boys books.

Marriage and Family

Andrew Svenson met his wife, Marian Stewart, while in college. Her parents were wealthy. They did not approve of her marrying "the son of a plumber." So, the young couple eloped, meaning they ran away to get married, in 1932. Marian's parents were upset for six months. They even stopped paying for her last year of college. The young couple faced challenges during the Great Depression. But they had a long, happy, and successful marriage. They had six children: Laura, Andrew Jr., Jane, Eric, Eileen, and Ingrid.

Starting His Career

Svenson began his career at the Newark Evening News newspaper. He started as a copy boy and stayed there until 1948. He worked his way up and became a writer. He even had his own column about pet care. During World War II, he was promoted to the War Desk. He was the overnight editor for the Sunday Edition of the newspaper. At the News, Svenson became good friends with Howard R. Garis. Garis was the author of the Uncle Wiggily children's book series.

The Stratemeyer Syndicate

Howard R. Garis introduced Svenson to Harriet Adams in 1947. Harriet Adams was a partner in the Stratemeyer Syndicate. The Syndicate was a company that created and published many popular children's book series. Svenson started working there as a ghostwriter in 1948. A ghostwriter writes books for someone else, and their name is not usually on the cover. By the time he passed away in 1975, Svenson had become a full partner in the Syndicate. He helped shape many children's book series for decades.

Svenson started by writing Hardy Boys books, numbers 28, 29, and 30. His first Hardy Boys book was "The Sign of the Crooked Arrow," published in 1949. He quickly began working on other series. He helped with all parts of creating books. This included writing plot ideas, full stories, and editing other authors' work. By 1961, Svenson was so important to the Syndicate's success that he became a full partner.

Besides The Hardy Boys, Svenson also worked on The Bobbsey Twins, Mel Martin Baseball Series, Honey Bunch, and Tom Swift Junior. He also created his own series. These included The Happy Hollisters, a mystery series based on his own children. He also wrote Brett King, a "modern cowboy" series. The Tollivers (created in 1967) was about an African American family who solved mysteries. The Wynn and Lonny Racing Series was about adventurous brothers who raced cars and solved mysteries.

His Work on The Hardy Boys

Svenson is best known for his work on The Hardy Boys series. The series was started by Harriet Adams' father in 1927. Many ghostwriters wrote the books until 1948. The early books from the 1920s and 1930s showed the social ideas of that time. Some parts might seem like stereotypes today. Also, the police officers in those books were not always shown in a good way. The Hardy Boys themselves were sometimes rebellious.

The Hardy Boys books began to change in the late 1940s. Harriet Adams chose Svenson for this series because of his family life. She wanted an author who could make the Hardy Boys more modern and wholesome. The boys would still be adventurous but also respectful. They would be clever and successful. This new image matched how Americans saw themselves at that time.

The Hardy Boys changed again starting in 1959. Many readers had complained about stereotypes in the older books. The publishing company also put pressure on them. So, Harriet Adams agreed to a big project to rewrite the series. Svenson led this project. He even rewrote some of his own early books. The new books were shorter. They did not have negative stereotypes. They also had more action and took place in exciting, faraway locations.

Svenson wanted to keep children interested with exciting stories. He also wanted to teach them. He purposely used words that were a bit harder than his target audience's reading level. This was to encourage them to look up words in a dictionary. He also traveled to the exotic places he wrote about. This helped him describe other cultures accurately. He continued to write Hardy Boys books until he passed away in 1975. One of his last changes was to the back cover of the books. His granddaughter Jennifer suggested it. He changed the wording from "All boys…" to "Anyone." Some critics have not liked the changes to the series. Others have praised him for removing old language and keeping the books updated.

The Happy Hollisters

This series was mostly created and written by Andrew Svenson. It tells the adventures of a young American family solving mysteries. They live in Shoreham by Pine Lake. This series is special because the characters are based on Svenson's own family.

In the books, "Pete" was based on his real son Andrew Jr. "Pam" was based on his daughter Laura. "Ricky" was based on Eric. "Holly" was based on Jane. "Sue" was a mix of his two youngest daughters, Eileen and Ingrid. Even the family dog and cat were real! "White Nose" was the family cat, Four Paws in the Snow. The collie "Zip" was their real border collie, Lassie.

The "villain" Joey Brill was a neighborhood bully. He tried to stop the Hollisters from solving mysteries. He was also based on a real person. But everyone has forgotten his real name.

Jane (Svenson) Kossmann, his daughter, remembers that her father put other real people in the series. This included her social studies teacher, Mrs. Farber. She also said some stories in the books came from her Girl Scout Camp. Her brother's Boy Scout Camp adventures also inspired stories. Svenson had his children, and later his grandchildren, read and "edit" his books. Jane remembers reading a rough draft of a book. She got to the end of a chapter and couldn't read more because it wasn't finished. She begged her father to tell her how it ended. She was annoyed when he said he didn't know yet because he hadn't written it!

Jane also recalls that her friends knew The Happy Hollisters were based on her family. But no one thought it was a "big deal." They saw it as just another job. They did think it was strange that her father sometimes worked from home. He also sometimes worked all night and on weekends. She said he often wrote in focused sessions. Sometimes it seemed like he wrote for three days straight. When he "locked himself in his office to write," no one was allowed to bother him. She said he took breaks to swim at the local YMCA. He also rode his racing bicycle or punched a boxing bag he had at home.

His Passing

Andrew Svenson passed away from prostate cancer in 1975. He was 65 years old. He died at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey.