Walter Karig
Walter Karig was an American writer and naval officer born in 1898 in New York City and raised in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. After completing his education at the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts, he served in the Foreign Legion of Quebec during World War I and later joined the Free Polish Army, achieving the rank of captain. Karig worked as a journalist for the Newark Evening News and became known for his contributions to children's literature under various pseudonyms, including Carolyn Keene for the Nancy Drew mysteries. His military service continued during World War II, where he held a position in the Navy's public relations office and played a key role as the principal editor of the influential Battle Report series documenting naval history. In addition to his nonfiction work, Karig authored several novels, including the notable fantasy "Zotz!" which explores themes of power and destruction, reflecting concerns about nuclear warfare. Later in his career, he served as the book editor for The Washington Post and Times Herald. Walter Karig passed away on September 20, 1956, after a battle with cancer, and he is interred at Arlington National Cemetery.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Walter Karig
Writer
- Born: 1898
- Birthplace: New York, New York
- Died: September 20, 1956
Biography
Walter Karig was born in 1898 in New York City and grew up in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. After graduating from high school, he attended the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts, where he met his future wife, Eleanor Keating Freye. When the United States entered World War I in 1917, he attempted to join all of the branches of the armed services, but he was rejected because of his astigmatism and bad teeth. He then went to Canada, where he joined the Foreign Legion of Quebec and was sent to Europe. After eighteen months, he joined the Free Polish Army, where he rose to the rank of captain. He returned to the United States in 1919 and married Freye.
From 1921 to 1942, Karig was on the staff of the Newark Evening News and was the newspaper’s Washington, D.C., correspondent from 1934 to 1942. In the 1920’s, he and his wife wrote fiction under the pseudonym Keats Patrick. In the 1930’s, he wrote under house names for the Stratemeyer Syndicate, publisher of the Nancy Drew mysteries and other books for children. As Carolyn Keene, Karig wrote three Nancy Drew mysteries; as James Cody Ferris, one of the X Bar X Boys westerns; as Clinton W. Locke, three Perry Pierce mystery books; and as Julia K. Duncan, two Doris Force mysteries. However, Karig severed his relationship with the syndicate when he violated his contract and informed the Library of Congress that he was the true author of three Nancy Drew books.
Just before World War II, Karig wrote a series of articles for Liberty magazine that speculated about the coming war. During the war, Karig served in the United States’ Navy’s office of public relations, eventually rising to the rank of captain by 1946. In 1943, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox ordered the writing of a naval history of the war which became the Battle Report series. Karig was principal editor and one of the coauthors of the five-volume series, which proved to be so popular that in 1950 the new secretary of the navy, Francis P. Matthews, ordered a sixth volume about the Korean War. Karig eventually became a special chief deputy of information for the Navy and wrote several books about World War II.
Karig also wrote several novels and some stories for Collier’s magazine. He served as technical advisor for the television documentary series Victory at Sea. His 1946 novel War in the Atomic Age? was one of the first works of fiction to deal with the possibility of a nuclear holocaust. His most famous book, Zotz! (1947), is a fantasy about a shy professor who acquires the power to destroy anything by pointing to it and uttering the word “zotz.” The power serves as a metaphor for the atomic bomb. In 1954, Karig became the book editor for The Washington Post and Times Herald. He was living in Bethesda, Maryland, when he died of cancer on September 20, 1956. His obituary appeared in Time magazine and he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.