Lyman Frank Baum (May 15, 1856 - May 6, 1919) was an Americann author.
Born in Chittenango, New York, he was the son of Benjamin Baum, who made his fortunes in the oil fields of Pennsylvania. He tried journalism in his youth which included starting a number of newspapers and magazines as well as writing plays for theater. After he got married and had a son, he moved to Aberdeen, South Dakota where he started a local newspaper called The Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer. The newspaper eventually failed.
Baum wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and thirteen additional novels based on the places and people of Oz. Several times through the development of the series, he declared that he had written his last Oz book, and devoted himself to several other works of fantasy fiction based in other magical lands (including The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus). However, persuaded by popular demand, letters from children, (and perhaps a reluctant understanding of the power of branding), he each time returned to the series. All of his novels have fallen into public domain in most jurisdictions; many are available through Project Gutenberg.
Baum was a failed writer, wanting no more than to walk away from the world of Oz. He tried many other book ideas including The Adventures of Father Goose and Queen Zixi of Ix. Twice Baum tried to walk away from the Oz books by formally declaring an end the series, only to have his other books fail and find himself pulled back into Oz. His last book was published after his death in 1919 but the series was continued long after his death by many other authors.
In his last years Baum was addicted to morphine and wrote most of his books in a large birdcage in his backyard.
On his passing, he was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, in Glendale, California.
An interesting (and true) urban legend is that when the wardrobe department of MGM began to buy costumes for the movie The Wizard of Oz they bought a huge amount of second hand clothes from many rummage sales around the Hollywood area. When the part of the wizard was cast many overcoats were chosen for him to wear, one was picked and on the first day of shooting, the actor noticed the lining of the coat had a label saying, "Property of L Frank Baum".
Baum has been called a socialist and Oz a barely disguised socialist utopia,though some Baum scholars differ strenuously[1].Advocates of this theory see it as indicated in this quotation from The Emerald City of Oz: