The Sleepyside Zone

JULIE CAMPBELL TATHAM
(1909-1999)

Julie Campbell Tatham was born on June 1, 1908, in Flushing, New York. She married Charles Tatham, Jr. in 1933 and the couple had two sons. Campbell eventually became the head of her own literary agency in New York City while still writing as a freelancer for magazines and publishers. In 1947, Western Publishing issued a call for new children's series - and Trixie Belden was born.

In an interview at Trixie-Belden.com, the author recalled, "I wanted Trixie to be different from Nancy Drew. I thought Nancy Drew books were poorly written and totally implausible."

The prolific author also created the Ginny Gordon mystery series, and contributed installments to the Cherry Ames and the Vicki Barr series. There's little doubt, though, that Trixie was her favorite child. "I put my heart and soul into those books…I knew those books were going to sell for a long time and nothing was going to stop them."

The author's Hudson Valley home of Wolf Hollow was the model for the Belden's Crabapple Farm and the surrounding area became the fictional setting of Sleepyside-on-Hudson.

This article and the accompanying images were originally published in Mystery Scene magazine, Winter, 2004. Trixie Belden® is a registered trademark of Random House. This page and its author are not affiliated with Random House in any way. I am not receiving any payment for reproducing this article on my site, which is intended as a fan’s homage.

Trixie Belden® is a registered trademark of Random House. This page and its author are not affiliated with Western Publishing/Golden Books or Random House in any way. I'm not making any money or profiting in any way from this site, which is intended as a fan's homage. All original text and graphics are copyright © 2003 by js@sleepysidezone.com.