L Frank Baum (1856 - 1919)
1900 title page of 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'
May 6th 1919: L. Frank Baum dies
On this day in 1919, the famous American author L. Frank Baum died in Hollywood aged sixty-two. Born Lyman Frank Baum in 1856, he was plagued with health problems in his youth, which prevented him from graduating high school. Baum tried his hand at journalism, business, and chicken farming before turning to children’s writing when he was in his forties. His initial forays were not successful, and Baum received so many rejection letters that he kept them in his own ‘Record of Failure’. He finally broke into the children’s books business when he published his popular collection Mother Goose in Prose in 1897. However, he is best known for his 1900 work The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which enchanted young readers and sold 90,000 copies in its first two years. The novel told the story of the young Dorothy from Kansas and her adventures in the magical land of Oz, accompanied by a tin man, a scarecrow, and cowardly lion. In 1902, the story was adapted for a Broadway musical - earning an impressive $160,000 - and two years later Baum published a sequel. In 1910, enjoying fame for his Oz books (which ultimately totaled fourteen) and other works under various pseudonyms, Baum and his family moved to Hollywood, attempting to translate his work into film. Influenced by his wife, who was an active feminist, Baum was a supporter of women’s suffrage, and is notable for his early depictions of female protagonists. Baum was widely mourned upon his death in 1919, but the Oz stories continued at the hand of Ruth Plumly Thompson. Twenty years after his death, the famous film adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland, was released to great success. L. Frank Baum’s stories continue to entertain children and adults alike.
“I believe that dreams — day dreams, you know, with your eyes wide open and your brain machinery whizzing — are likely to lead to the betterment of the world”
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