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We have all at one time or another read or at least browsed through a copy of a Hardy Boys mystery novel. As we eagerly turned page by page, immersed in the storyline, little did we know of the true origins of the founding author, Charles Leslie McFarlane. From cover to cover, we found no trace of evidence to suggest that this author was someone special, not only to all Canadians but especially to Haileyburians. Leslie McFarlane always considered Haileybury his "hometown," the place he grew up as a boy and the community that sparked his interest to become one of Canada's most prolific writers and successful authors. He is and will always be Haileybury's beacon to hopefully draw international interest to this small Northeastern Ontario community.

Leslie McFarlane was born on October 25, 1902, at Carleton Place, Ontario. His father, John Henry McFarlane, a local school principal, gave all his four sons both educational and spiritual guidance in their early years at home. In August 1910, when Leslie was just a young lad of seven years, his father decided to accept the position of principal at Haileybury Public School. The family arrived by train at the Haileybury Station, unloaded their belongings, and moved into a rented home on the corner of Latchford and Probyn Streets.

Leslie grew up much like any other kid in the neighbourhood. He played hockey, bobsledded down Browning Street, skated on Lake Temiskaming, and enjoyed playing boyish pranks with his other younger friends. As a growing boy he acquired a thirst for quality reading material. For hours on end he read from the many volumes that filled his father's bookshelves. His personal collection included The Boys' Own Annual, Chums, and The Tip Top Weekly.

In 1914, Leslie graduated from grade eight with honours, placing second in his class. Posing for his class picture, no one suspected that this small scrawny kid in the front row would go on to great achievements. His natural literary skills were yet to be unleashed. That fall, Leslie McFarlane entered Haileybury High School. After classes and on weekends he kept busy working at many odd jobs. He delivered the Saturday Evening Post, ran errands as a junior bank clerk, operated the projector at the Grand Theatre, set type at TheHaileyburian newspaper, and worked as a tally man for the Riordon Pulp and Paper Company.

First hints of Leslie's writing ability appeared in 1915, when he won an I.O.D.E. historical essay writing contest. Before graduating from high school in 1919, Leslie's story called Afraid gave him a second-place finish in a collegiate literary contest. He also won the Victory Loan Essay Contest and was presented with a medal for his first-place standing in Haileybury High School's oratory contest. It was here that he also spearheaded the printing of the school's first newspaper called Hail-O.

Leslie McFarlane landed his first full time job as a reporter with the Cobalt Daily Nugget. After reporting for less than one year in the silver boom town, he packed up his belongings and headed to Sudbury in search of new job opportunities. The Sudbury Star took him on as a reporter, tripled his Nugget wages, bringing his weekly salary to $25. Life as a reporter proved very demanding, allowing him little time to enjoy writing his own short stories. Within a year, Leslie McFarlane left the Sudbury Star. The newspaper business, he admitted, was not for him.

Moving outside the city, he rented a summer cottage along the tranquil shores of Ramsey Lake to begin his new life as a freelance writer. On October 4, 1922, the day of the Great Fire that engulfed much of the Temiskaming District and obliterated his hometown Haileybury, Leslie McFarlane headed to North Bay to meet his mother, who like many others, had taken a southbound train for refuge. Her vivid recollection of the disaster helped Leslie put together an article, making headline news in the Sudbury newspaper. Before he left the nickel city, Adventure Magazine published McFarlane's work on a story named Imposter and the Toronto Star Weekly featured a few short stories he had submitted. In 1926, he headed south of the border to work for the Springfield Republican newspaper in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Now 23 years old with only 20 cents in his pocket, Leslie started as a reporter on the Republican's local hotel beat. While not particularly excited about having to work as a reporter again, he soon responded to a local advertisement from Edward Stratemeyer, an author and publisher of children's books. Stratemeyer sent him samples of his two books, each under the pen name Roy Rockwood. This astonished McFarlane. As he leafed through the copies of NatRidley Rapid Fire Detective Stories and the Dave Fearless Series, he now realized that Roy Rockwood never existed. Rudely welcomed to the world of ghostwriting, McFarlane chose to try his hand at a Dave Fearless story.

Now authoring as Roy Rockwood, he completed his first book Dave Fearless under the Ocean. Stratemeyer's $100 payment arrived along with another outline. He promptly quit the Republican in hopes of making a living from his new found venture. Before too long, the loons of Ramsey Lake had called him back to the cabin where peace and tranquillity offered a more relaxed atmosphere to pursue his writing career. Leslie McFarlane completed seven books in the Dave Fearless Series before writing to Stratemeyer of his loss of interest in continuing. Stratemeyer responded with a new proposal for him to write juvenile detective stories. The Hardy Boys epic was born.

Writing under the pen name Franklin W. Dixon, a name that McFarlane had no choice in selecting, his new task involved writing the adventurous detective mysteries solved by teenage boys Frank and Joe Hardy. Set in the fictitious seaside city of Bayport, the boys, guided by their father Fenton, an experienced private investigator, meticulously pieced the clues together to solve the mysteries. As the waves of Ramsey Lake could be heard through the cabin window, Leslie McFarlane put his first piece of paper into the typewriter, rolled it up to leave a small margin, and typed the title The Tower Treasure.

Stratemeyer followed up with outlines for The House on the Cliff and Secret of the Old Mill. With the acceptance of his first Hardy Boys book, Leslie McFarlane was now sworn to secrecy regarding the real author of both the Dave Fearless and Hardy Boys books. This oath was to be kept for the duration of their contract; a contract that outlined $100 for each completed and approved HardyBoys book. In the fall of 1927, Leslie returned to Haileybury to live with his parents at their 430 Marcella Street home. Here he wrote Secret of the Old Mill, The Missing Chums, and Hunting for Hidden Gold. On May 3, 1928, in Montreal, Leslie married Amy Arnold of New Liskeard and the couple took up residence at Lis d'Eau Cottage at Coteau Landing, Quebec. It was here that Leslie McFarlane wrote The Shore Road Mystery and Secret of the Caves. The following year the newlyweds were homeward bound, back to Haileybury.

He set up a small office on the second floor of the bank (presently the Scotiabank at the corner of Main Street and Ferguson Avenue) and moved into a rented home at 435 Broadway Street. Later, the couple rented an attractive home at 580 Brewster Street. Continuing the Hardy Boys series of books in which Stratemeyer had planned for two publications a year, Leslie now found extra time to fill the pages of The Haileyburian with a variety of his own weekly serials. Dead Man's Feast, The Black Mansion Murder, The Crime Cat, Black Monday, The Hooded Raider, and The Portage Murder captivated local readers of the newspaper.

Leslie McFarlane and his wife never returned to live in Haileybury. In Whitby, his books entitled The Sinister Sign Post, The Figure in Hiding, and The Secret Warning continued to build the Hardy Boys series. Like all good things that end, so did Leslie McFarlane's desire to continue writing about the young detectives from Bayport. In 1943, the McFarlanes moved to Ottawa where Leslie now started working in public relations with the Department of Munitions and Supplies. In the nation's capital he wrote The Flickering Torch Mystery. One year later he joined the National Film Board of Canada, now involved in the making of documentary films. In 1946, after having written twenty Hardy Boys books, he completed his twenty-first and last called The Phantom Freighter.

In 1953, he was nominated for an Academy Award for his documentary Herring Hunt. Unfortunately, the death of his wife Amy in 1955 prompted him to leave the Film Board at this time. Children Patricia, Brian, and Norah prayed for their loving mother. He soon left Ottawa to live in Toronto where he joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. as Chief Editor of Television Drama. Two years later he was remarried to widow Beatrice Kenney. By 1961, Leslie was again living in Whitby, now concentrating his efforts as a freelance writer.

During the 60s he wrote many CBC comedies and dramas. A short two year stint in Hollywood, California as a script writer for the Bonanza series ended the decade. He continued in the 70s with several personal publications. In 1975, Leslie McFarlane wrote A Kid in Haileybury, a vivid account of his early years as a boy in the town. His last book, an autobiography called The Ghost of the Hardy Boys appeared in 1976. On September 6, 1977, after a lengthy illness at the Oshawa General Hospital, 74-year-old Charles Leslie McFarlane passed away. The literary world had lost one of its greatest.

Comprehending the importance of his contributions during his lifetime is difficult. He produced four novels, 100 novelettes, hundreds of short stories, dozens of radio plays, 70 television plays, 50 movie scripts, and yes, 21 Hardy Boys books. At the time of his death, Hardy Boys book sales exceeded 50,000,000 worldwide, published in seventeen languages. All this for a man who claimed not to have made more than $5,000 for his efforts. As he lay bedridden in his last days of his life, he knew how modern writers had now tailored his original writing to suit the times. Hardy Boys were different. They did not have that original quality. When asked what he thought about it all, he summed it up in his autobiography "Even a ghost has feelings like anyone else."

Who is Leslie McFarlane?

Haileybury Station.
A typical scene when Leslie McFarlane arrived in Haileybury.

Haileybury High School - 1917

As the Great Depression arrived, sparked by the stock market crash in October 1929, many publishers vanished. Sales of books tumbled and only a few managed to survive through the ordeal. The Hardy Boys series continued, enough to keep Leslie McFarlane very busy at his typewriter. He wrote seven more Hardy Boys books while living in Haileybury. These included: The Mystery of Cabin Island, The Great Airport Mystery, What Happened at Midnight, While the Clock Ticked, Footprints under the Window, The Mark on the Door, and The Hidden Harbour Mystery. Writing under the pen name Carolyn Keene, he also wrote four books in the Dana Girls Series. The McFarlanes continued to live in Haileybury until September 29, 1936, when they moved to Whitby, Ontario. Haileybury was sad to see them go. An article dated October 1, 1936, in the New Liskeard Speaker details their final days in Haileybury.

"Leslie McFarlane who has made his home in Haileybury for the past quarter century, left town on Tuesday night to take up residence in Whitby, and will be joined there within a few days by Mrs. McFarlane and their family. They have been considering a move and lately decided to transfer their residence to Whitby. On Monday evening, Mr. McFarlane, well known in the literary world, was guest of honor at a social function in the Odd Fellow's Hall, at which Mayor Thorpe expressed his regret, together with that of other citizens, at his impending departure. Principal W.H. Tuke of the High School, J.H. Murray, H.G. Hogan, C.F. Tuer K.C., and J.T. Leishman all spoke at the gathering, and the last named presented Mr. McFarlane with a silver tray and their united good wishes. Mr. McFarlane suitably replied."

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