Fred Woodworth letter to Anita Avery with enclosed photocopy of letter and articles from Margaret Sutton, 1981

Item — Box: 1, Folder: 6

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

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The Anita Avery Girl Detectives Collection is divided into seven series:

Correspondence — Letters, articles, and photographs sent or copied and forwarded to Anita Avery, predominantly concerning Margaret Sutton, author of the Judy Bolton series.

Fan Culture — Newsletters and publications of members of the Society of Phantom Friends, a fan club focused on Judy Bolton and other girls’ series.

Conference Materials — Materials from a conference held at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse June 22-24, 1984: "Eighty Years of Juvenile Series Fiction, or How Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys and Friends Have Affected Four Generations."

Miscellaneous Literature — Reproductions of non-Judy Bolton books by Margaret Sutton, generated by the author and sent to Anita Avery in the mid-1980s; also a 2011 publication of the early typescripts that later evolved into Judy Bolton stories.

Ephemera — Miscellaneous materials related to the collection.

Memorabilia — Various Nancy Drew memorabilia dating from the 1930s-2010s.

Audiovisual Material — An audiobook, a VHS tape, and several DVDs of Nancy Drew adaptations.

Dates

Creation: 1981

Conditions Governing Access

The physical materials from this collection may be viewed only in the reading room of Vanderbilt’s Special Collections and University Archives. Materials should be requested two to three days in advance to facilitate easier access. Contact specialcollections@vanderbilt.edu to schedule an appointment.

Full Extent

From the Collection: 5 Linear Feet (2 Hollingers, 6 flat boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Information

Donor notes:

Letter from Margaret Sutton to Fred Woodworth, with Sutton's request that the informational articles be forwarded to Anita Avery (before Avery met Sutton in 1984)

Includes Sutton's one page letter, four pages of photocopied information about Sutton and the series, with margin notes in her handwriting and typed. Fred Woodworth cover letter, one page, forwarding the information to Avery. Four photocopied pages include:

"A Fruitful Old Age is Possible" "Margaret Sutton: Writer of Teen Books" from Newsday, a Long Island paper, c. 1969. Widowed, [Sutton] stays on at her Freeport Long Island home, rents out the upper floor, has taken in a foster daughter. Integration of her neighborhood inspired The Weed Walk, published by Putnam. Her closing statements: "And I can write again... I've never been an Ivory Tower type. When I was alone, I couldn't write at all."

"Margaret (Beebe) Sutton" entry from Something About the Author, Volume 1, one page copy. Sutton handwritten marginalia: The Haunted Attic is underlined, handwritten marginalia: "Before either 'The Secret in the Old Attic' or 'The Haunted Bridge' both Nancy Drew." Next to her picture, marginalia: "named by Grosset and Dunlap in 1932 when she signed contract for Judy Boltons." Typed marginalia: "married Everett C. Hunting October 19th, 1975." New address, and "Currently writing and teaching LETTERS TO LIVE BY in which the letters of the alphabet become symbols for such values as kindness, love and understanding."

"Author Visits County" from the Potter Enterprise, Coudersport PA. November 1976 article, one page copy. Inscribed by Sutton. Her handwritten margin notes talk of recent travels, and mention that The Midnight Visitor was based on a court case she "listened to."