June 3, 2009

Judge Sotomayor and Nancy Drew

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayer discussed Nancy Drew with Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Md). Both apparently remember the titian-haired eighteen-year-old detective from River Heights fondly, as do a lot of us. I had nearly all the Nancy Drew books, and read and re-read them avidly, although as I got older, I also read the Hardy Boys, which I liked for the mysteries (I thought the female characters were pretty useless though).

For more on Nancy and her influence, see

Sherrie A. Inness, Nancy Drew and Company: Culture, Gender, and Girls’ Series (1997).

Glenwood H. Irons, Feminism in Women’s Detective Fiction (1995).

Bobbie Ann Mason, The Girl Sleuth (1995).

Melanie Rehak, Girl sleuth : Nancy Drew and the women who created her (2005).

See also

The History of Nancy Drew

The Nancy Drew television series (1977-1978), starring Pamela Sue Martin, is currently available on DVD. The film, starring Emma Roberts, is also available, as are the films starring Bonita Granville, made in the 1930s.

1 comment:

cearta said...

Hi Christine,

It's not just Sotomayor. O'Connor and Ginsburg share her 'Nancy Drew' addiction, at least if the New York Times is to be believed! History does not seem to record the views of the other (male) supremes on this important issue.

Eoin.