Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. L. Frank Baum

Lyman Frank Baum didn’t use his first name, didn’t like it. L. Frank Baum discovered a true love of rhyme and fairytale when his children were young, taking up writing children’s stories in his 40s. His series about a young girl from Kansas called Dorothy, and the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, became his most popular.

He decided to perform his stories as a traveling film circus. ‘The Fairylogue’ and ‘Radio-Plays’ were a mix of live actors, hand-tinted magic lantern slides, and film. Baum himself would appear as if he were giving a lecture, while he interacted with the characters (both on stage and on screen). He tried many times without luck to mount a film based on the Oz series, even setting up a film company, The Oz Film Manufacturing Company.

An early transmedia project; he experimented with story form, performance and broadcast. I shared my love L Frank Baum’s stories with my own children, and they brought it to life in ways I’m sure Frank would have approved. They acted out scenes before bed-time, watched the films on high rotation, read the books, and had me make costumes for Oz play. We have never lost our love for Dorothy and her adventures with Toto.

Here in Luxville they reside as inspirations to wonder.

Interesting Post Script: Frank was also an active advocate for equality as secretary of the Aberdeen’s Woman’s Suffrage Club.