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All About Ken HoltWho is Ken Holt? |
| From Authors letter to TV/Movie Agent
on January 24,1956
MEMORANDUM The KEN HOLT Series by Published by Grosset & Dunlap This series of boys' adventure book (11 published to date) revolves around the mysteries solved by KEN HOLT, son of a top-flight correspondent for a world-wide news service; and his friend, SANDY ALLEN, whose father owns a weekly newspaper in a small community not far from New York City. Both boys are approximately 17 years old (their exact age is never mentioned although both drive cars), but they have distinct physical and mental characteristics, KEN is dark-haired and wiry, the more, intellectual of the two. It is usually he who first spots the mystery in some seemingly innocent situation, and who evolves the general method for solving it. SANDY is a red-headed powerhouse, mechanically minded and a good and ingenious photographer. His technical know-how is frequently essential to the application of Ken's detective theories. Neither boy has superhuman strength or bravery. They don’t look for trouble--and are often scared when they find it. In most cases they stumble into adventure as the result of a routine assignment for the weekly paper, or through association with Richard Holt, the news-service correspondent. The newspaper background which they share permits them to become involved in adventures centered in rural areas or urban ones, or even outside the country. The crimes involved are limited to the less bloody types, such as smuggling, theft, etc. There are no murders and no sex. The boys don't handle weapons-- but do face them. They arrive at solutions by intelligence, guile and brawn. They're smart enough to know when the police should be called in. In other words, they don't disdain adults or law enforcement officers. At some point in each book they are usually cut off from adult help, for the sake of the additional drama this permits, but the denouement usually takes place with the aid of, the police, Coast Guard, FBI, or some other enforcement agency. Their relationship to their parents and other adult is mutually respectful, with no condescension on the adults' part.. The mechanical devices or scientific gimmicks the boys rig up or utilize are not figments of the author's imagination; each one really works. No villain has a foreign name, but some "good guys" have. Each book in the series runs to about 20 chapters. Each chapter ends in
a cliff-hanger and in most cases contains sufficient material for a 15
minute episode. From Authors letter to G&D Advertising Agent on Ken Holt, son of famous foreign correspondent, Richard Holt of Global News, makes his home with the red-headed Allen clan, owners of the small-town newspaper, the Brentwood "Advance." Keen of mind, and always inquisitive, Ken has an uncanny ability to sense a mystery. He and his friend, photographer, Sandy Allen, can walk out of the office on a routine assignment and walk straight into the middle of a sinister international crime. Travelling to some strange corner of the world to meet Richard Holt, Ken and Sandy can find themselves tracking criminals through the crowded alleys of a foreign port or the menacing silence of a ghost town. Since the night Ken first stumbled into the "Advance" office, fleeing from some gang that had already kidnapped his father, he and Sandy have become famous for their ability as detectives. Together they have out-fought and outwitted, smugglers, counterfeiters,
bank robbers, swindlers. Together they have produced the pictures
"Photo by Allen", and the stories byline "By Ken
Holt"pictures and stories known not only to"Advance"
readers, but to the world-wide public served by Global News. |
Last Revision: December 03, 2006 04:24 PM