Andrew Svenson
Andrew Edward Svenson was an American author and journalist, born on May 8, 1910, in Belleville, New Jersey. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1932 and married Marian Stewart the same year. Svenson had a prolific writing career, beginning as a reporter and editor for the Newark Evening News from 1934 until 1948. He became known for his contributions to children's literature, particularly through the Stratemeyer Syndicate, where he wrote under various pseudonyms.
Svenson created the Happy Hollister series, inspired by his own family, and contributed to the beloved Bobbsey Twins and Hardy Boys series under different aliases, including Laura Lee Hope and Franklin W. Dixon. He became a partner in the Stratemeyer Syndicate in 1961 and transitioned from writing novels to outlining stories for other authors. While some critics labeled his work as formulaic, his stories resonated with young readers, leading to significant sales and enduring popularity. Svenson passed away on August 21, 1975, but his impact on children's literature continues, with many of his series still in print today.
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Subject Terms
Andrew Svenson
Author
- Born: May 8, 1910
- Birthplace: Belleville, New Jersey
- Died: August 21, 1975
- Place of death: Livingston, New Jersey
Biography
Andrew Edward Svenson was born on May 8, 1910, in Belleville, New Jersey. His parents were Andrew Svenson and Laura Soleau Svenson. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1932, the year he married Marian Stewart, and then studied for one year at Montclair State Teachers College. The couple had six children—Laura, Andrew, Jane, Eric, Eileen, and Ingrid—and settled in Bloomfield, New Jersey.
In 1934, Svenson became a reporter and editor for the Newark Evening News. He stayed with the newspaper until 1948, but soon after the end of World War II, he began expanding his writing career. He taught writing courses at two New Jersey colleges: The State University of New Brunswick from 1945 to 1954, and Upsala College from 1948 to 1954.
In 1948, he joined the Stratemeyer Syndicate, a syndicate that published successful series of juvenile novels, including the Tom Swift, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and Bobbsey Twins series. Svenson’s first projects were writing novels for the Mel Martin baseball series from outlines created by syndicate staff; he wrote Bobbsey Twins in Rainbow Valley (1950) and five others in the Bobbsey Twins series under the pseudonym Laura Lee Hope. Under the pseudonym Jerry West, Svenson created the Happy Hollister novels, about a large and raucous family, beginning with the first novel he created from scratch, The Happy Hollisters (1953), and concluding after thirty-one more with The Happy Hollisters and the Mystery of the Midnight Trolls (1969). The Hollisters were based on Svenson’s own children, their collie, and their cat. Under the pseudonym Alan Stone, Svenson wrote three volumes in the Tollivers series, about an African American family. Using the pseudonym Franklin W. Dixon, a name originally used by Edward Stratemeyer, the founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, Svenson contributed eight books to the Hardy Boys series, about two teenage crime-solving boys. Svenson became a partner in the Syndicate in 1961. While the children were still in school, the Svenson family traveled all over the country every summer, looking for new ideas for stories.
After many years writing several books a year, Svenson moved to creating the outlines for novels which other writers, using the appropriate group pseudonyms, fleshed out into prose. Svenson died of prostate cancer on August 21, 1975. Throughout his career, he faced charges from critics that his books were too formulaic and predictable, but the books sold well and were popular with children. The Hardy Boys books are still in print, and new books continue to be added to the series.