The Happy Hollisters Andrew E. Svenson

this series, developed , entirely written andrew svenson, recounts adventures of young american middle-class family solving mysteries home on pine lake in shoreham. series unique in characters based on svenson s family. in series, pete represented real son andrew jr., pam represented daughter laura, ricky represented eric, holly represented jane, , sue composite of svenson s 2 youngest daughters, eileen , ingrid. dog , cat had real counterparts; white nose family cat 4 paws in snow, , collie zip real border collie lassie.

the villain joey brill, neighborhood bully tries foil hollisters mystery-solving efforts, based on real person well, although claims have forgotten real name.

jane (svenson) kossmann recounts father placed other real characters in series, including social studies teacher mrs. farber. relates of stories in books based on stories girl scout camp , brother s boy scout camp escapades. svenson had children, , later grandchildren, review , edit books. jane remembers getting end of chapter in rough draft of 1 book, when realized not read on, since book unfinished. after begging father tell how book ended, irritated response - didn t know how ended yet, since hadn t written yet!

jane recalls while friends @ school knew happy hollisters based on family, no 1 thought kind of big deal. job them — although thought strange father worked home sometimes, , night , weekend. reports tended write in concentrated sessions, seemed 3 days straight. when locked himself in office write, no 1 allowed disturb him. reports took breaks writing swim @ local ymca, ride racing bicycle, or punch boxer s punching bag had set @ home.