Harriet Stratemeyer Adams (December 11, 1892 – March 27, 1982) was an American juvenile mystery novelist and publisher who authored some 200 books over her literary career. She wrote many books in the Nancy Drew series (under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene) and a few in the Hardy Boys series (under the pseudonym Franklin W. Dixon). She also oversaw other ghostwriters who wrote for these and many other series.
She was born in Newark, New Jersey, the daughter of Edward Stratemeyer. With her sister, Edna, she took over control of the Stratemeyer Syndicate upon his death in 1930. Adams is primarily credited with keeping the Syndicate afloat through the Great Depression, and with revising the two most popular series, Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, in the 1950s and 1960s, removing stereotypes and outdated ideas and language.
Adams graduated from Wellesley College in 1914. She resided in Maplewood, New Jersey, and in Pottersville, New Jersey, an area within Tewksbury Township.
Adams was interred in Fairmount Cemetery in Newark.
Famous quotes containing the word adams:
“Positively I sit here, and look at Europe sink, first one deck disappearing, then another, and the whole ship slowly plunging bow-down into the abyss; until the nightmare gets to be howling. The Roman Empire was a trifle to it.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)