L Frank Baum

Once upon a time, Gower Street in Hollywood was also known as Gower Gulch, because of all the quickie Westerns being made at the small and struggling studios along it. It was also known as Poverty Row because so many of the studios' struggles were unavailing. Only Columbia ultimately prospered on Gower. The Gower Gulch days were early Hollywood, before production had begun to be dominated by a handful of majors, and there seemed to be new studios on every block.

The Real Wizard of Oz The Life and Times of L. Frank Baum Rebecca Loncraine Gotham Books: 416 pp., $28 In contrast to the rambling text that follows, the title of this biography couldn't be more cogent. L. Frank Baum, inventor of the magical Land of Oz, does indeed strikingly resemble the fraudulent but fundamentally good-hearted Wizard who put green-colored spectacles on Dorothy, her friends and the residents of the Emerald City. Not that Baum ever cheated anyone outright, but this son of the Gilded Age was intimately familiar with the tricks and showmanship that built modern commerce, as well as the yearning for a freer, more fantastic realm beyond the harsh realities of life on the Great Plains or in America's rapidly industrializing cities.

TV or not TV . . . THE GAMBLER: "He considered himself a failure at 40," said John Ritter. "He had all these odd jobs and couldn't hold them. And then he gambled everything on this one children's book." The book was "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." The author was L. Frank Baum. And Ritter is starring in his life story Monday in an NBC film co-produced by his company.

Finding Oz How L. Frank Baum Discovered the Great American Story Evan I. Schwartz Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: 400 pp., $28 Cheek by Jowl Talks & Essays on How & Why Fantasy Matters Ursula K. Le Guin Aqueduct Press: 150 pp., $16 paper -- In classic fairy-tale tropes, L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" impresses its vision upon the reader. A girl left with no biological parents is banished from home.

It is considered by some to be America's first home-grown fairy tale: "The Wizard of Oz," a fantastical story that began as a book and became one of the most popular movies of the 20th century. The shoes Judy Garland wore in the 1939 classic film are enshrined in the Smithsonian. The Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man and the Wicked Witch of the West are among the most well-known characters of the cinematic world. But what about Princess Ozma, the Woggle-Bug and Tik-Tok? Not many people remember them.

Hollywood seems an indelicate place to house a history of something as sweet as the works of L. Frank Baum. The neighborhood of the handsome Frances Howard Goldwyn branch of the Los Angeles Public Library, where "The Road to Oz: The Life of L. Frank Baum" is on display, is pretty well inhabited by the same types of struggling souls regularly seen sleeping on the stars of nearby Hollywood Boulevard. And yet, in a way, it would seem inappropriate to place such an exhibit anywhere else.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road: The films and books of L. Frank Baum, the creator of "The Wizard of Oz," will be celebrated in a special exhibit starting today and running though Aug. 31 at the Francis Goldwyn Howard Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library in Hollywood. Today's festivities, which will be highlighted with appearences by Charlton Heston and John Ritter, will mark the 134th birthday of the author.

Cowardly lions, "a ton of wicked witches" and the Munchkin coroner from "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" paraded through village streets Saturday to salute the native son who wrote the classic children's story. Thousands of visitors jammed the rural village of Chittenango to view the 10th annual Oz Parade, a tribute to L. Frank Baum, author of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." The book was turned into a film, "The Wizard of Oz," in 1939.

There's no yellow brick road to find the way, but starting Friday the Los Angeles Central Library is transforming itself into the wonderful land of Oz.Through Feb. 24 the Library's Getty Gallery will be home to "A Century of Oz," an exhibition featuring more than 400 items related to L. Frank Baum's classic stories.

It is considered by some to be America's first home-grown fairy tale: "The Wizard of Oz," a fantastical story that began as a book and became one of the most popular movies of the 20th century. The shoes Judy Garland wore in the 1939 classic film are enshrined in the Smithsonian. The Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man and the Wicked Witch of the West are among the most well-known characters of the cinematic world. But what about Princess Ozma, the Woggle-Bug and Tik-Tok? Not many people remember them.

There's no yellow brick road to find the way, but starting Friday the Los Angeles Central Library is transforming itself into the wonderful land of Oz.Through Feb. 24 the Library's Getty Gallery will be home to "A Century of Oz," an exhibition featuring more than 400 items related to L. Frank Baum's classic stories.

TV or not TV . . . THE GAMBLER: "He considered himself a failure at 40," said John Ritter. "He had all these odd jobs and couldn't hold them. And then he gambled everything on this one children's book." The book was "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." The author was L. Frank Baum. And Ritter is starring in his life story Monday in an NBC film co-produced by his company.

Once upon a time, Gower Street in Hollywood was also known as Gower Gulch, because of all the quickie Westerns being made at the small and struggling studios along it. It was also known as Poverty Row because so many of the studios' struggles were unavailing. Only Columbia ultimately prospered on Gower. The Gower Gulch days were early Hollywood, before production had begun to be dominated by a handful of majors, and there seemed to be new studios on every block.

Hollywood seems an indelicate place to house a history of something as sweet as the works of L. Frank Baum. The neighborhood of the handsome Frances Howard Goldwyn branch of the Los Angeles Public Library, where "The Road to Oz: The Life of L. Frank Baum" is on display, is pretty well inhabited by the same types of struggling souls regularly seen sleeping on the stars of nearby Hollywood Boulevard. And yet, in a way, it would seem inappropriate to place such an exhibit anywhere else.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road: The films and books of L. Frank Baum, the creator of "The Wizard of Oz," will be celebrated in a special exhibit starting today and running though Aug. 31 at the Francis Goldwyn Howard Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library in Hollywood. Today's festivities, which will be highlighted with appearences by Charlton Heston and John Ritter, will mark the 134th birthday of the author.

Tell Roger Baum that he laughs like the Cowardly Lion, and he'll take it as a compliment. And well he should--you could say the two of them are distant relatives. Indeed, Roger Baum, 51, is the great-grandson of L. Frank Baum, the author who dreamed up the Lion, the Land of Oz, its wonderful Wizard, Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, Glinda the Good Witch of the South, the Wicked Witches of the West and East, Dorothy Gale of Kansas. And Toto, too. "Well, thank you very much, that's quite an honor!"

The yellow brick road may end in the Land of Oz, but a proud central New York farming village is where Dorothy and Toto began their journey to the Emerald City, in the imagination of author L. Frank Baum. The 4,205 residents of Chittenango, named by the Indians for the sparkling creek that rushes by rolling, green farmland, believe with near-religious conviction that the lush Mohawk Valley inspired its most famous son to write 19 Oz books, including the "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" in 1900.

Tell Roger Baum that he laughs like the Cowardly Lion, and he'll take it as a compliment. And well he should--you could say the two of them are distant relatives. Indeed, Roger Baum, 51, is the great-grandson of L. Frank Baum, the author who dreamed up the Lion, the Land of Oz, its wonderful Wizard, Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, Glinda the Good Witch of the South, the Wicked Witches of the West and East, Dorothy Gale of Kansas. And Toto, too. "Well, thank you very much, that's quite an honor!"

The yellow brick road may end in the Land of Oz, but a proud central New York farming village is where Dorothy and Toto began their journey to the Emerald City, in the imagination of author L. Frank Baum. The 4,205 residents of Chittenango, named by the Indians for the sparkling creek that rushes by rolling, green farmland, believe with near-religious conviction that the lush Mohawk Valley inspired its most famous son to write 19 Oz books, including the "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" in 1900.