Aparita

The Toronto Star

The question that’s plagued women for ages might now be on the Queen’s mind. What will Her Majesty wear to her prom tomorrow night?

But maybe the self-proclaimed prince of darkness Ozzy Osbourne will be more cause for concern, that is, if he doesn’t abide by the royal decree not to shout, swear or take drugs in her presence when he performs Monday night.

The ex-Black Sabbath frontman and star of MTV’s reality series, The Osbournes, is one of the many artists enlisted to perform as part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations for the Queen. The celebrations, which begin today and mark the 50th year of the Queen’s accession to the throne, promise a garden party like never before.

The musical portion of the celebrations begins tomorrow night, with what has been dubbed The Prom at the Palace. There, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, led by former TSO conductor Andrew Davis and accompanied by a host of classical music luminaries, will serenade the Queen.

On Monday, guitar riffs will replace the dulcet notes as the pop brigade marches in. Called The Party at the Palace, the concert in the gardens of Buckingham Palace will feature Paul McCartney, Elton John and Cliff Richard, who will pay tribute to the monarch along side Osbourne, Eric Clapton, Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart, Annie Lennox and Joe Cocker.

“It will be a very big and spectacular cast,” royal communications secretary Simon Walker told the BBC. “British music has been dominant internationally throughout the Queen’s reign, so picking some of the biggest stars of that period but also some of the current pop idols of the day seemed to be a good way to do it.”

To add a contemporary touch to the roster of rock’s old guard, the Queen’s grandsons, Prince William and Prince Harry, were roped in for some consulting. As a result, current British artists such as Atomic Kitten and S Club 7 will also perform, The Times of London reports. The Times has said the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh will make only a fleeting appearance at the start of the concert.

All performers have been issued a document entitled “Special Buckingham Palace restrictions and general health and safety rules,” according to the Daily Telegraph. The rules state that “no animal life must be disturbed,” a statement perhaps directed at Osbourne, who once bit off the head of a bat tossed on stage by a fan.

CBC will air the concert Monday at 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Both the network and Newsworld also plan comprehensive live coverage from London on Monday and Tuesday. On Tuesday, both channels, starting at 5: 45 a.m., will broadcast seven consecutive hours of coverage, concluding with a balcony appearance by the Queen.

Toronto Star, [05/30/2002]

The $125-per-book-writer remained anonymous until 1980

She gave the world a plucky, adventurous and sharp-witted heroine whose exploits inspired young girls in dozens of countries long before the Spice Girls could say “girl power.”

Mildred Augustine Wirt Benson, who only late in her life was acknowledged as the original author of the popular mystery series Nancy Drew, died Tuesday. She was 96.

Born in 1905, Benson published her first story at the age of 12. She wrote more than 100 stories for children’s magazines and published 137 books, including the Penny Parker series.

Benson was also a journalist who started reporting in the 1940s and never retired. She became ill at work Tuesday afternoon, while working on her column for the Toledo Blade newspaper in Ohio.

“I would say she liked to think of herself as a journalist first and an author second,” said Blade editor Thomas Walton. “She was a tenacious reporter with an incredible work ethic. Even at 96, she still came down to the office. I saw her coming in on her walker to work on what was to become her final column.

“I am fairly certain that she would be the oldest working journalist of either gender. She didn’t like retirement. She’d done it all - city hall, the police beat, and later yet she was working on her column for older folks called On the Go.”

But Benson is best known for captivating generations of young girls. She wrote 23 of the original 25 Nancy Drew mysteries in the 1930s, under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene.

The series, continued by other authors, is still in print and has sold more than 200 million copies in 17 languages. Spinoffs include interactive games, television series and a cookbook.

While pursuing a master’s in journalism at the University of Iowa, Benson sent a manuscript for the Ruth Fielding series to the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Impressed, owner Edward Stratemeyer proposed a new series about girl detective Nancy Drew.

Benson was paid $125 per title, with no royalties. She also had to sign away nearly all of the rights, including use of the name Carolyn Keene.

“Edward Stratemeyer wasn’t too pleased with this character, who he thought was too aggressive,” said Leslie McGrath, who directs the Osbourne collection of children’s books at the Toronto Public Library. “But he died soon after, and his daughters, especially Harriet Stratemeyer, thought (Nancy) was an appealing character who would appeal to the modern audiences of the 1930s.”

Sherrie A. Inness, author of Nancy Drew and Company: Culture, Gender and Girls’ Series, said Nancy Drew was Stratemeyer’s most successful series, bettering even the Hardy Boys books originally written by Canadian journalist Leslie McFarlane. “The spunkier, independent Nancy was a big hit from the beginning.”

Carolyn Dyer, professor of journalism at the University of Iowa, said Benson was pleased with the recognition she got in later years.

She was revealed as the writer in 1980, when she testified in a court case involving the publisher. Benson later won legal permission to identify herself as the original series author.

“She was more of a tough news person, the sort who would wear her press pass on her fedora,” Dyer said with a laugh. “And she brought that feistiness in her characters.

“For the women who are now in their 40s and 50s, Nancy Drew represented a character who was unlike most characters then. She was from the upper middle class. She had a housekeeper. She had her own car, which was unheard of then. She could do whatever she wanted.

“She also went to teas and formal things. She was a proper girl except for her adventures. She represented a goal that many girls aspired to reach.”

Benson stopped writing the series after 1948’s The Ghost of Blackwood Hall. “She felt she had to move on,” Dyer said. “She didn’t know kids anymore. She couldn’t write them believably anymore.

“She actually preferred her other character Penny Parker more. Penny Parker was a girl reporter. (Benson) called her a better Nancy Drew. And she wrote those under her own name.