Rex Stout facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Rex Stout
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Rex Stout on Our Secret Weapon (December 1942)
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| Born | Rex Todhunter Stout December 1, 1886 Noblesville, Indiana, United States |
| Died | October 27, 1975 (aged 88) Danbury, Connecticut, United States |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Genre | Detective fiction |
| Notable works | Nero Wolfe corpus 1934–1975 |
| Spouse |
Fay Kennedy
(m. 1916; div. 1932)Pola Weinbach Hoffmann
(m. 1932) |
| Children | 2 |
| Military career | |
| Service/ |
 United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1906–1908 |
Rex Todhunter Stout (born December 1, 1886 – died October 27, 1975) was a famous American writer. He was best known for his exciting detective fiction stories. His most popular characters were the clever detective Nero Wolfe and his helpful assistant Archie Goodwin. They appeared in many books and short stories from 1934 to 1975.
In 1959, Rex Stout won the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. This is a very important award for mystery writers. His Nero Wolfe series was even named the Best Mystery Series of the Century at a big mystery convention!
Besides writing, Stout was also a well-known public figure. He helped start the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which works to protect people's rights. He also helped create Vanguard Press, a publishing company. During World War II, he led the Writers' War Board, helping writers support the war effort. He was also a popular voice on the radio and worked to promote world federalism, which is about countries working together for peace. He was also the president of the Authors Guild, helping writers with their copyrights.
Contents
Biography
Rex Stout's Early Life
Rex Stout was born in Noblesville, Indiana, in 1886. Soon after, his family moved to Kansas. He was one of nine children. His parents were Quakers, and his father, a teacher, encouraged him to read. Rex read the entire Bible twice by the time he was four years old! When he was thirteen, he won the state spelling bee championship. He went to Topeka High School and the University of Kansas. His sister, Ruth Stout, also became a writer, known for her books on gardening.
Rex Stout served in the U.S. Navy from 1906 to 1908. He even worked on President Theodore Roosevelt's yacht. After the Navy, he worked many different jobs in several states for about four years.
How Rex Stout Became a Writer
Between 1912 and 1918, Rex Stout published about forty stories in different magazines. These stories included romance, adventure, science fiction, and even early detective stories.
Around 1916, Stout invented a special banking system for schools. This system helped school children save money in accounts. About 400 schools in the U.S. used his system, and he earned enough money from it to travel a lot in Europe. Because he had this money, he decided to stop writing for a while. He wanted to write only when he truly wanted to, not just to earn money.
He didn't write any fiction for over ten years. But then, in 1929, he started writing again. Sadly, he lost most of his money during the Great Depression that same year.
In 1916, Stout married Fay Kennedy. They divorced in 1932. Later that year, he married Pola Weinbach Hoffmann, who was a designer.
Rex Stout's Books and Characters
Rex Stout started his writing career in the 1910s. He wrote many stories for magazines, including popular "pulp magazines." He wrote over 40 stories between 1912 and 1918. These early stories covered many types of fiction, like romance, adventure, and even some detective stories.
After taking a break from writing, Stout published his first book, How Like a God, in 1929. He also wrote a political thriller called The President Vanishes in 1934.
In the 1930s, Stout started writing the detective stories he became famous for. In 1933–34, he wrote Fer-de-Lance. This book introduced his most famous characters: Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin. These two characters are considered some of the most important in detective fiction. Nero Wolfe was known as a very unique and memorable detective.
Stout also created other detective characters, like Theodolinda "Dol" Bonner, a female private detective. After 1940, he mostly wrote only Nero Wolfe stories. He continued writing these stories for the rest of his life, publishing at least one new adventure almost every year until 1966. He published four more Nero Wolfe novels before he passed away in 1975, at 88 years old.
During World War II, Stout spent less time writing mysteries. He joined groups that supported the war and wrote articles to help the war effort. He also hosted three weekly radio shows. After the war, he went back to writing Nero Wolfe novels. He also became president of the Authors Guild and the Mystery Writers of America. In 1959, he received the Grand Master Award, which is the highest honor in the mystery writing field.
Rex Stout was good friends with the British humorist P. G. Wodehouse, who wrote the Jeeves stories. Both writers admired each other's work. Wodehouse even wrote the introduction for Rex Stout's biography.
Rex Stout's Public Activities
Rex Stout was very involved in public life. In 1925, he joined the board of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), helping to protect free speech. He also helped start Vanguard Press, a publishing house that aimed to make important books available to more people. He was the first president of Vanguard from 1926 to 1928.
During World War II, Stout was a strong supporter of the war effort. He led the Writers' War Board, which organized American writers to help with wartime messages. He hosted a radio show called Our Secret Weapon, where he would correct false information spread by enemy propaganda. He spent many hours each week studying enemy broadcasts to prepare for his show. People called him the "lie detective" because he was so good at showing how the enemy was spreading lies.
Stout was a very opinionated person. He had strong views on politics and world events. He was sometimes watched by the government because of his strong opinions, but he always stood up for what he believed in. After the war, he worked to prevent future conflicts and supported the idea of countries working together through a United Nations organization.
Later Years and Death
In his later years, Rex Stout continued to write. He also had strong opinions about later world events, like the Vietnam War, and about different political systems.
Rex Stout kept writing until shortly before he died. He passed away on October 27, 1975, at his home in New York, at the age of 88.
Images for kids
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Rex Stout on Our Secret Weapon (December 1942)
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A frequent guest panelist on the NBC radio series Information Please, Stout was featured in the first of 18 RKO-Pathé short film versions that screened in American theaters. Sitting on the steps of the Radio City Music Hall lobby after the September 1939 premiere are (from left) Pathé chief Frederic Ullman Jr., Stout, director Frank P. Donovan, John Kieran, Franklin P. Adams and Dan Golenpaul, creator of the radio program.
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The Stout family at High Meadow, "The House That Nero Wolfe Built" (Look, February 13, 1940)
