Mildred Benson

Mildred Augustine Wirt Benson (July 10, 1905 – May 28, 2002) was an American journalist and author of children's books, in particular the earliest Nancy Drew mysteries. Writing under the Stratemeyer Syndicate pen name, Carolyn Keene, from 1929 to 1947, she contributed to 23 of the first 30 originally published Nancy Drew mysteries.

Personal life

Benson was born Mildred Augustine in Ladora, Iowa to Lillian and Dr. J. L. Augustine. Benson earned her degree in English from the University of Iowa in 1925. She later returned to the University and in 1927, became the first student there to earn a master's degree in journalism. She was married to Asa Wirt, who worked for the Associated Press. The couple had a daughter together, Peggy Wirt, who was born in 1936. After Wirt's death in 1947, she married George A. Benson, editor of the Toledo Blade newspaper of Toledo, Ohio. He died in 1959.

Benson worked for 58 years as a journalist, writing a weekly column for the Toledo Blade, and as a writer of many books. She continued to work full-time (mostly writing obituaries) until a few months before her death. She died from lung cancer in 2002 at the age of 96.