Page 17 - The Magazine of AAA Ohio Auto Club – November 2020

Jennifer Fisher/Nancy Drew Collection at the Toledo Lucas County Public Library
Photo below courtesy of the Toledo Lucas County Public Library
Ohioana compiled the trail map with more than 70 sites across the Buckeye State, paying tribute to the authors, poets, illustrators, libraries and creative influencers of the written word who have called Ohio home.
Hosted online by the Ohioana Library Association,
the Ohio Literary Trail is organized by the state’s five geographic regions. The downloadable map provides links to every destination, with details, directions and background information. Among the highlights by region:
Northwest Ohio
The new Jennifer Fisher/Nancy Drew Collection is housed at the Toledo Lucas County Public Library. This year marks the 90th anniversary of the celebrated teen sleuth, created by Toledo writer Mildred Wirt Benson, the original “Carolyn Keene.”
Benson was a great adventurer, making numerous
trips to Central America, traversing the jungle in a Jeep, canoeing down rivers, visiting Mayan sites, flying airplanes and witnessing archaeological excavations. Benson wrote under the Stratemeyer Syndicate pen name, Carolyn Keene, from 1929 to 1947 and contributed to 23 of the first 30 Nancy Drew mysteries, which were bestsellers.
Northeast Ohio
Malabar Farm State Park in Lucas was the home of Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and conservationist Louis Bromfield. Bromfield’s famed “Big House,” a 32-room country mansion, was the site in 1945 of the wedding of Hollywood icons Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.
In 1924, Bromfield published his first novel, “The Green Bay Tree,” which featured a headstrong, independent female protagonist — a feature that would recur in many of his later books. His third novel, “Early Autumn,” a harsh portrait of his wife’s Puritan New England background, won the 1927 Pulitzer Prize.
Central Ohio
Among the many notable sites in central Ohio is Thurber House, the Columbus home of writer and cartoonist James Thurber, America’s most celebrated humorist of the 20th century. Thurber’s home, and the adjacent center, host several literary programs year-round.
Thurber was an American cartoonist, author, humorist, journalist and playwright. He was best known for his cartoons and short stories, published mainly in “The New Yorker” and collected in his numerous books.
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