Pen Names Trivia Quiz

Answer: Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) used many pseudonyms in his writing. On July 10th, 1732, a letter was printed by the Pennsylvania Gazette under the name of Anthony Afterwit. The article complained about the extravagances of his wife and the possible result of continued excesses.

The letter is said to have been directed at Franklin's wife, Deborah, who purchased a china bowl and a silver spoon at a time when the couple was having trouble making ends meet. Being the clever gentleman that he was, Franklin didn't dare to sign his real name on the piece.

He was a true 'renaissance man', proficient in so many fields, e.g, as a politician, author, inventor, scientist and statesman.

Answer: Erle Stanley Gardner

Erle Stanley Gardner (1889-1970) was a lawyer and the creator of the famous Perry Mason (and Della Street). His stories were made into the early TV program "Perry Mason", which ran from 1957 to 1966, and starred Canadian actor Raymond Burr. There was usually a twist, but Perry always came out on top (except three times). Gardner wrote under several pen names, e.g., Kyle Corning, Charles M. Green, Les Tillray and Robert Parr.

As A.A. Fair, Gardner wrote about the detective agency of Cool and Lam (better than Dewey, Cheatum and Howe).

In another series, he created upright District Attorney Doug Selby and his adversary, A.B. Carr, a 'shyster' lawyer.

Answer: Anne Bronte

Acton Bell was the pen name used by Anne Bronte (1820-1849). She was a British poet and novelist. She published a book of poetry with her sisters, called "Poems by Currier, Ellis and Acton Bell" in 1846. You may have heard of her famous sisters, i.e., Charlotte and Emily Bronte! Apart from the poetry, Anne also produced two novels: "Agnes Grey", in 1847, based on her experiences as a governess, and her last novel "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" the following year. "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" is considered one of the first 'feminist' novels.

Unfortunately, she died from tuberculosis at the age of 29.

Answer: Pauline Phillips

In 1956 Pauline Esther Friedman Phillips (1918-2013) began an advice column called "Dear Abby" under the name of Abigail Van Buren. She dispensed advice to people writing in with problems; she also hosted a radio show with the same format. Her advice was often risque and filled with humor, but always rooted in common sense.

Her column became the most widely syndicated newspaper column in the world. When she died, her daughter, Jeanne Phillips, continued her column. Did you know she had a twin sister, Esther Pauline Friedman Lederer (1918-2002), who also wrote an advice column under the name of Ann Landers?

Answer: Charles Dickens

Boz was an early pseudonym for the great British writer Charles Dickens (1812-1870). Dickens was an astute social critic of the era in which he wrote. He is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian Era, and he created some of the most memorable fictional characters of all time. Who has not heard of Ebenezer Scrooge from "A Christmas Carol" (1843)? The name 'Scrooge' denotes a 'cold-hearted miser'.

There's poor Bob Crachit, the orphan Oliver Twist ("Please, sir, may I have some more?"), Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay, and David Copperfield and on and on.

The term "Dickensian" has come to describe poor social conditions, even to this day.

Answer: Eric Blair

Eric Arthur Blair (1903-1950) wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. He was an English novelist, journalist and critic. Two of his best known novels, i.e. "Animal Farm" in 1945, and "1984" in 1949, present dystopian futures, where the choices are not made by the individuals themselves but, rather, by the 'boss' or the leader or the "Big Brother". Blair/Orwell did not like the time in which he lived with socialism, fascism and nazism, and his fear for the future was reflected in his writings and his cautionary tales.

Answer: Charles Dodgson

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-1898) is better known by his pen name, Lewis Carroll. He was not only a novelist but also a poet, mathematician, logician, photographer and deacon of the Anglican church. Aside from penning "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" in 1865 (based on Alice Liddell), he also wrote both "Jabberwocky" and "The Walrus and the Carpenter" in 1871.

He taught mathematics at Oxford and was thought to be a reclusive stammerer and a devout scholar. Perhaps his penchant for story-telling came from the fact that he was the eldest boy of 11 children!

Answer: Washington Irving

Diedrich Knickerbocker was both a fictional character of, and a pseudonym for, the American writer Washington Irving (1783-1859). Knickerbocker was synonymous with the Dutch Americans located in New York, and Diedrich Knickerbocker was the narrator of both Irving's tale of "Rip Van Winkle" and his first major work "A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty" written in 1809. Knickerbocker was also involved in the telling of the tale of "Sleepy Hollow", while saying it is the story of "an old man he met in Manhattan". Irving wrote "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" in 1820, and helped put the town of Tarrytown, New York, on the map.

Answer: Evan Hunter

Ed McBain is the pen name of American author and screenwriter, Salvatore Albert Lambino who legally adopted the name Evan Hunter (1926-2005) in 1952. He is responsible for "The 87th Precinct" which include a series of police procedural novels in Isola, a district in a large urban city, based on the borough of Manhattan. Each of his books opens with the same disclaimer: "The city in these pages is imaginary.

The people, the places are all fictitious. Only the police routine is based on established investigatory technique". Apart from McBain's mystery and crime fiction novels, as Evan Hunter he is responsible for "The Birds" and "The Blackboard Jungle".

Answer: Amantine Dupin

Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin (1804-1876) wrote under the pseudonym of George Sand. Dupin, as Sand, was one of the first women to walk around in public in men's clothes, saying that they were sturdier and cheaper. This allowed her to circulate in Paris more freely and to gather material for her writing which was not available to other female authors.

She scandalously smoked tobacco in public and participated in a great many affairs, e.g, with Jules Sandeau, Prosper Merimee, Louis Blanc and Frederic Chopin, even having an intimate affair with actress Marie Dorval...talk about 'ahead of her time'! Her first independent novel, in 1832, was under the name George Sand.