Charles Leslie McFarlane was a journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and filmmaker. He is mostly famous for the successful Hardy Boys mystery series for children and teens, using the pseudonym Franklin W. Dixon.
The son of a school principal, he was raised in the town of Haileybury, Ontario. McFarlane considered this small community his “hometown.” When he left high school at 17, he knew he wanted to be a writer.
The Ghosts of the Hardy Boys Tour begins at the Haileybury Heritage Museum, which has tons of McFarlane memorabilia, including his old typewriter.