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WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESbAv, à UÛgST 24, 1971, PAGE 15 BOOKREVIEW By John Roberts Ghost of the Hardy Boys lby Leslie McFarlane (Methuen, $8.95) I met Leslie McFarlane for the first time three summers ago when I was with a Toronto publisher, and had been in- volved with. negotiating a contract betweený the company and Leslie's son Brian, the hockey telecast commentator, Brian happened to mention that his father had done some writing in his younger days, and had an unpublished man- uscript that ha4. been collecting dust for some time. Would we be interested in having a look at it? I have to admit that the name Leslie McFarlane was un- familiar to me. When I discovered that his pen name was Franklin W. Dixon, however, I realized that this man was someone who had thrilled me with the exploits of Frank and Joe Hardy when I was a young boy just barely into reading, and who still sells in the millions of copies with the 56 Hardy Boys books that are presently in print. <'r y- MACKEY-CLUFF Andrew Cluff, of Toronto and Patty Mackey of Whitby were united in Holy Matrimony Saturday, August 20th at St. John the Évangelist Church in Whitby. The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Mackey of 1190 Dundas St. West, Whitby. The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Cluff of Toronto. The bride wore a white wedding gown of polyorganze over taffeta with matcung picture hat. The reception was held at the Ajax Community Centre. The couple are presently honeymooning in Haliburton. Upon their return, the couple will reside in Toronto. Photo by Mike Burgess M.B.M. Publishing and Photography m'eetings which we had with Leslie, an autobiography of hisyears with Frank and Joe and all of the various charac- ters. whlch comprise one of the best selling groups of juvenile books In North America, and possibly even in the world if numerous booksellers are to be believed. Yet this is an autobiography, not to be confused with another of the Hardy Boys adventures, although it is indeed an ad- venture in itself. Leslie McFarlane was a resident of our town, having resided here from 1936 to 1943, and again from 1961 to 1976, when he moved to Minden, Ontario. He liked the town, and had a deep interest in its history, In October, 1970, when Oshawa wanted to amalgamate with Whitby, Leslie was one of the most eloquent speakers against such a move. Whitby has honoured him by naming one of the streets in West Lynde subdivision "McFarlane Court." While some of the Hardy Boys advantures were written right here in Whitby, at the old McFarlane residence on Athol Street, it has been nearly 50 years now, back in 1926, since Leslie hammered out the first Hardy Boys es- capade on his secondhand Underwood in a cabin in north- ern Ontario. In The Tower Treasure, Frank and Joe came into the world on motorcycles, speeding down a road by the ocean on a sunny morning in spring. In the first few paragraphs, the boys were identified and the local éstab- lished. Suddenly a car hurtled towards the boys on their motorcycles. "lle'll run us down," shouts Joe in alarm. And then, in the words of the author: "At this point, I, in my new role of Franklin W. Dixon, stared at the typewriter for awhile, considered the situa- tion, and wrote: 'Indeed, the situation of the two boys was perilous.' "From this beginning, a great industry was born." One is tempted here to go into a history of Leslie McFarfane and the Hardy Boys. This, however, would be taking away form the thunder of the book, and a fine story it is. Suffice it to say that the series dates back to 1926, when 32 year old cub reporter Leslie McFarlane answered an ad for a fiction writer (you'll search a long while to find an ad like that today). As a ghost writer for Edward Stratemeyer's syndicate for 20 years, he filled in the successful plots for innunerable juvenile novels, of which the original Hardy Boys numbered only a few in his vast portfolio, and which have since been read by millions around the world. -He had no inkling at the time of the writing career that lay ahead of him. In this book he tells the story of that career, and applauds Stratemeyer's crea- tion of the tales of Franklin W. Dixon, Carolyn Keen, Roy Rockwood and other childhood favourites, and treats us to the hilarious accounts of writing Frank and Joe Hardy in and out of trouble. Yet McFarlane's autobiography encompasses rnuch more than the derring-do of the young heroes and heroines that he helped immortalize. Woven into his humourous chronicles of juvenile fiction writing are heartwarming anecdotes of his travials as a neophyte journalist cover- ing the big time stories of snall mining town life (he wrote for such newspapers as the Cabalt Nugget and the Sudbury Star) and of his Thoreau-like. retreat to the Canadian backwoods to pursue serious writing. .Ghost ofthe iar.dy Boys transports us to a gentler, innocent time which is described in the book with the wry humour of an "irreverent old pro." It is a book that any- one who has every been thrilled by the exploits of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew should not miss. It may seem redundant by some to review a book that has been on the market since 1976, and a man who has 20°C is a good room temperature 30°C s swimming time- 10°C - wear a coat Whi by Community Bingo Jaycees Kiwanis Kinsmen Optimists 2 $500 JACKPOTS EVERY MONDAY NIGHT Monday, Aug. 29 Lic. No. 235401 FIRST JACKPOT AT 53 NUMBERS SECOND JACKPOT AT 58 NUMBERS 7:15 p.m. No children under 16 admitted NO ADMISSION CHARGE! HEXDENSHORE PAVILION (corner Water St. & Dunlop Dr., Whitby) been written about àt least thrçe times in the Whitby Erý.. 1ress and in many national publications. Yet, as a book- seller I notice a renewed interest in the series (which had never been really forgotten) and in the man since he left town, There is no trick in ordering books on the Hardy Boys - they are always in demand. What is important, and a fact that should lve come out long ago, is thé mab and the method behind the books. People will always read about the Hardy Boys, and there is no-reason why the man behind them should be forgotten. For without him, they would not exist in their present form. GhLQ.stf-the Ha Jr.dyî.Boy.and the entire series of Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books are available at Plum Hollow Books,_135 Brock Street South, Whitby._ THE CRAFT WORKSHOP HAS RELOCATED AT 1626 CHARLES ST. N WHITBY 0d 668-9511 401 a - i___________ BASE LINE CLASSES GREENWARE GLAZES POTTERY SUPPLIES ETC. COME AND SEE OUR NEW STUDIO m 1