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A good argument for a good agent and lawyer.
The library at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., has obtained the diaries, correspondence and early material of Leslie McFarlane, author of 21 of the Hardy Boys books.
McFarlane, a freelance writer based in Haileybury, Ont., wrote the Hardy Boys books under the pseudonym Franklin W. Dixon.
The series, which began in 1927 and ended in 1979 after 58 books, followed the sleuthing escapades of teenage brothers Frank and Joe Hardy, helped by their father Fenton, a private detective.
Included in the archives to be held at McMaster are first editions of The Secret of the Caves and The Tower Treasure, the first book in the series.
"McFarlane's diaries, photographs, and other documents represent a wealth of primary research materials for scholars and the educated public," Carl Spadoni, McMaster's research collections librarian, said.
"The archives are thoroughly Canadian in character, but they also have broad, international appeal."
Spadoni says the university, which already has an archive of McFarlane's papers donated after his death in 1977, plans to acquire early editions of all of McFarlane's books.
McFarlane was born Oct. 25, 1902, in Carleton Place, Ont., and moved to Haileybury with his family so his father could take a job as principal of the local high school.
He began working as a reporter in 1919 for the Cobalt Daily Nugget.
He began writing children's adventure books for publisher Edward Stratemeyer under the pseudonym Roy Rockwood, first penning a book in the Dave Fearless adventure series.
He wrote seven books in the Dave Fearless series before Stratemeyer invited him to try his hand at another series about two juvenile detectives.
He wrote the first 21 books in the Hardy Boy series, at $100 a manuscript, setting the character and style of the series. As a ghostwriter, he was bound by contract not to reveal his connection to the books.
Under the pen name Carolyn Keene, he also wrote four books in the Dana Girls series.
McFarlane received no royalties for the books, which have sold millions. The last Hardy Boys book he wrote, The Phantom Freighter, was published in 1946.
McFarlane went on to become an editor at Maclean's magazine, a screenwriter, producer and director for the National Film Board of Canada, head of the TV drama script department at CBC and a scriptwriter for the TV program Bonanza.
He was nominated for an Academy Award in 1953 for his documentary Herring Hunt, made while he was with the NFB.
McFarlane died in Whitby, Ont., in 1977.
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