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KLRN & San Antonio Public Library

San Antonio Public Library's partnership with KLRN.

L. Frank Baum on the page

American Experience: American Oz -- The True Wizard Behind the Curtain

 

American Oz

 

Explore the life and times of author L. Frank Baum, the creator of one of the most beloved, enduring and classic American narratives.

By 1900, when The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published, Baum was 44 years old and had spent much of his life in restless pursuit of success. With mixed results he dove into a string of jobs  — chicken breeder, actor, marketer of petroleum products, shopkeeper, newspaperman and traveling salesman — Baum continued to reinvent himself, reflecting a uniquely American brand of confidence, imagination and innovation. During his travels to the Great Plains and on to Chicago during the American frontier’s final days, he witnessed a nation coming to terms with the economic uncertainty of the Gilded Age. But he never lost his childlike sense of wonder and eventually crafted his observations into a magical tale of survival, adventure and self-discovery, reinterpreted through the generations in films, books and musicals.

Premieres April 19, 2021!

L. Frank Baum & The Wizard of Oz

Inspired by The Wizard of Oz

Suggestions for Further Exploration of Oz and its creator