Monroeville woman will present Nancy Drew 'mystery history' in Delmont
Tara Rotuna has been solving mysteries alongside Nancy Drew since she was 8 years old.
Along the way, she solved some other mysteries, like the truth behind Nancy Drew author Carolyn Keene, and she started collecting Drew books and began attending themed conventions across the country.
Rotuna, 52, of Monroeville has been extolling her fictional heroine’s virtues for the past 17 years with a presentation on Nancy Drew, which she will give Thursday, Feb. 23, at the Delmont Public Library.
“She was just someone I really identified with,” Rotuna said. “She was independent, she solved puzzles and, most importantly, she helped the people in her stories.”
When a co-worker found out Rotuna collected Drew books, she asked whether Rotuna had heard about the Nancy Drew conventions.
“Right after she mentioned it, we found that there was one coming to Lancaster, and we went,” Rotuna said. “They’re done by the Nancy Drew Sleuths group, and they’re held in locations where either her books are based or in places related to the authors.”
The 1955 Nancy Drew mystery “The Witch Tree Symbol” takes place in Lancaster County.
After attending her first Drew convention, Rotuna began putting together the segments that make up the bulk of her presentations today.
And while the original Nancy Drew series has 56 hardback books, Rotuna has collected more than 1,000 over the years, ranging from special library editions to foreign editions and alternate-cover versions.
“After the original hardbacks, they started issuing paperbacks that went up into the hundreds,” she said. “They started a series where Nancy Drew went to college. They’ve done series targeted toward younger kids — and new ones are still being published today.”
Rotuna said she loves seeing grandmothers bonding with their grandchildren over the books.
“It’s amazing seeing generations come together, making special memories with people who inherited their mother’s books or a friend’s collection,” she said. “And people from age 8 to age 80 come out to the talks.”
Rotuna’s “Nancy Drew: The History Behind the Mystery” will be at 5:30 p.m. in the library, 75 School St.
For more information, call 724-468-5329.
Patrick Varine is a TribLive reporter covering Delmont, Export and Murrysville. He is a Western Pennsylvania native and joined the Trib in 2010 after working as a reporter and editor with the former Dover Post Co. in Delaware. He can be reached at pvarine@triblive.com.
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