Andrew E. Svenson

Andrew E. Svenson (May 8, 1910 – August 21, 1975) was an American children's author, publisher, and partner in the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Under a variety of pseudonyms, many shared with other authors, Svenson authored or coauthored more than 70 books for children, including books for the Hardy Boys, Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift, and Honey Bunch series. He is best known for creating and authoring these series:

Svenson was born in Belleville, New Jersey, in 1910 to parents Sven Andrew Svenson and Laura (Soleau) Svenson. He was the oldest of three children. Younger brother Arthur grew up to become a professor of business management at New York University, and younger sister Marjorie became a Registered Nurse.

The family moved to Newark, New Jersey, and Svenson attended Barringer High School in Newark. He was athletic, and competed as a sprinter in high school, and later in college.

Svenson began to study Engineering at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University), before realizing that Mathematics was not his forte. He transferred to University of Pittsburgh, where he focused on his writing, and graduated in 1932.

After his first year of college, he embarked on a cross country adventure with his younger brother Arthur. The two purchased an ancient car (rumored to be a Model T), which carried them from New Jersey to Montana, before the wheels literally fell off. The two brothers hitch-hiked to Seattle, where they boarded a tramp steamer headed back to the East Coast, via the Panama Canal. They stopped in Cuba before finally arriving home. Some have suggested that this trip inspired future Hardy Boys books.

Svenson met his wife while attending college. Marian Stewart was the adopted daughter of wealthy parents; they did not approve of her marriage to "the son of a plumber", so the young couple eloped in 1932. She was disowned by her parents for six months, and they refused to pay for her last year of college. The young couple struggled to survive during the depression, but ultimately had a long, happy, successful marriage. They had six healthy children. Laura, Andrew jr., Jane, Eric, Eileen, and Ingrid

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