Wolfe Pack History

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The Wolfe Pack is a forum to discuss, explore and enjoy the 73 Nero Wolfe books and novellas. The organization promotes fellowship and extends friendship to those who enjoy these great literary works of mystery through a series of events, book discussions, and a journal devoted to study of the genius detective, Nero Wolfe, and his intrepid assistant, Archie Goodwin.

Wolfe fans were first brought together by the "Mammoth New Nero Wolfe Contest" sponsored by Viking Press in 1969. The contest appeared in a New York Times Book Review advertisement for William S. Baring-Gould's book, Nero Wolfe of West 35th Street.

Among the many people who correctly answered the simple questions about the Corpus was a young fan named Ellen Krieger, who was disappointed that Viking never pursued a Wolfean Society after the advertising campaign ended.

Four years later, Professor John McAleer was working on his biography of Rex Stout. Wishing to meet Wolfe fans, he obtained the contest mailing list. McAleer began a correspondence with several people on the list, including Krieger. She expressed an interest in joining a Wolfe group, and McAleer suggested a name: The Wolfe Pack.

In 1977, the Murder Ink bookstore held a dinner to celebrate the publication of Professor McAleer's biography of Rex Stout. A questionnaire was distributed at the dinner to determine interest in creating a Wolfe Pack. Six months later, the completed questionnaires were given to Krieger. Then, on June 6, 1978, six strangers met and the Wolfe Pack was born. Officers were elected and Krieger became the group's first Werowance.*

* "Werowance" is an Algonquian word meaning tribal chief, leader, commander, or king, notably among the Powhatan confederacy of Virginia. It is a title or nickname by which Archie Goodwin addresses Mr. Wolfe in Too Many Cooks, which takes place in West Virginia, originally the western part of the state of Virginia.