MILDRED WIRT BENSON POST BANNED ON FACEBOOK
A post I made recently to a Facebook series book collecting group about a new Mildred Wirt Benson book was removed by a moderator who obviously did not want it there. In the post I named the book and asked if anyone had heard anything about it, a very common request to ask. Mildred, of course, is the author of the original Nancy Drew books and many other series similar to it, an icon in the vintage series book collecting world, composed mostly of older adults. So shocking that they'd remove a post about a book written about her!
The book is titled Mildred Wirt Benson: The Transgender Man Who Wrote Nancy Drew by David Farah, the author of the Farah Guides, popular guides to the printing history of the Nancy Drew books.
I knew Mildred and knew her as a woman. If she transitioned to a man I do not know anything about that, which is why I asked, figuring one of the many other collectors might know about it. I know that Farah knew her much more intimately than most other collectors, so I have no reason to doubt the veracity of the content of his book, just wanted info about it while I waited for my copy to arrive in the mail.
I'm assuming the post was removed because the moderator doesn't want posts about transgenders on the group's page. There have been anti-LGBT incidents in other such groups before even though many collectors are LGBT and allies. This is ridiculously childish behavior for an adult group, and very bigoted. The post did not promote the book or advertise it, just asked for general information. Is it good? Did you like it? How long has it been out? Are there any reviews? That kind of thing. Farah is highly respected in this particular collectors circle, but I suppose they must not be discussing his book if they have deleted the post.
What a shame if Millie was transgender (which I'm assuming she was if Farah wrote a book about it) and her fans do not want to accept her that way, or even talk about it, yet keep on exalting her for having been such a legend in the genre. But bigotry and prejudice is a hard act to change and most of the self-appointed gurus in the vintage series book collecting circles are all-around bigots, against just about everything that does not help promote only themselves.
I'll be getting the book soon and in my next post I'll review it. Millie was quite a character and it'll be interesting to learn about her secret life (at least to us collectors).
