Frank Bell

Born in Ladora, Iowa, in 1905, Mildred Augustine Wirt Benson became one of the most influential writers in classic children's mystery fiction. She studied journalism at the University of Iowa and went on to build a long career as both a reporter and an author.

She is most famous for writing many of the earliest Nancy Drew books for the Stratemeyer Syndicate, where she helped give the young detective her confident, adventurous personality. Benson also wrote under several other names, including Frank Bell, a pseudonym she used for books such as the Flash Evans series.

Her writing life stretched across decades, and she continued working as a journalist well into later life. She died in 2002, but her brisk storytelling and lively, independent heroines still feel fresh to readers today.