L.Frank Baum was born Lyman Frank Baum in May of 1856 in Chittenango, New York. He was the seventh of nine children, but only five lived to adulthood. His father had been a cooper, but went into the oil business and made a fortune. Frank was raised in a devout Christian household that revolved around friends, family and church.
Frank was a sickly child. He had heart trouble and was discouraged from active play. He stayed close to home and received much of his early education from a private tutor at their estate, called Rose Lawn. Once he learned to read, he spent hours in the family library. He read works by authors such as Decheus, but also read fairy tales. He found some of these frightening and said that someday he would write some that would not be so.
Frank was sent to a strict military school, but this did not go well. He was more imaginative and somewhat of a dreamer and the strictness caused something of a mental breakdown. When he was 14, his father bought him a small printing press and he began to write and publish a small local paper, which did well. Encouraged, at 17 he began another paper and a magazine for stamp collectors.
Frank also began to breed chickens and won awards and acclaim for his efforts. He began a new magazine called ‘The Poultry Record” and in 1886 had his first book published. It was “The Book of Hamburg’s, a Brief Treatise upon the Mating, Rearing and Management of the Different Varieties of Hamburgs”.
He had developed a love of the theater in his teens and formed a Shakespeare troupe with money from this father. It was successful and he grew in his craft. In 1880 his father made him manager of a string of theaters in New York and Pennsylvania and, after he had proved himself, gave them to him. He began writing plays with success and his “Maid of Arron” met with positive views.
About this time, while touring with “Maid of Arron”, he met and subsequently married Maud Gage, in 1882. After touring together for a time, Maud became pregnant and they settled in Syracuse. Still suffering from poor health, Frank moved into sales for the family business. A bookkeeper hired to manage the funds wound up mismanaging them terribly. His father subsequently died and after a clerk swindled away all of the money; Frank was forced to sell the business.
The Baums moved to the Dakota Territory in 1888 at Maud’s suggestion and Frank started a general store in Aberdeen. Despite a local fondness for Frank and the fanciful stories he told the children who flocked to the store, the business failed due to general economic conditions and Frank started managing a weekly newspaper. Again, it failed, due to the hard times, and in May of 1891, Frank moved the family to Chicago, which was bustling.
Frank became a buyer and salesman, and continued to write and tell his stories. He also took a position as a reporter for the Evening Post. He became a member of the Chicago Press Club and made many friends among the members. At the urging of his wife and mother-in-law, he wrote a book called “Mother Goose in Prose” in 1897. It was illustrated by Maxwell Parrish and did very well. He started a magazine called ‘The Show Window” which was successful and which he sold in 1902.
During this time, he met the illustrator William Denslow and formed a successful partnership. Their first book was “Father Goose, His Book” published in 1899. It was the latest selling juvenile book of the year and the next book the “Songs of Father Goose” was made of verses set to music.
In 1900, the Baum Denslow team collaborated on what would become Frank’s most famous book. It was of course, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”. In 1902, they produced an adult version of “The Wizard of Oz” which toured very successfully as a stage play.
The very different natures of the two men began to push them apart. Each was recognized in his own right by the public and there was some rivalry about who was most responsible for the success of the books. They had different lifestyles, different habits and different friends. The relationship did not end on good terms.
All in all, Frank went on to write seventeen sequels to the original book. While none was as successful as the original, most did well enough to give the Baum family a comfortable lifestyle. Frank became known as “the royal historian of Oz”.
With his creative talent, Frank turned to producing a traveling film show called the “Fairylogue and Radio Plays”. It did not do well and left him with significant debts. His health was not good and, after paying off the debts, Frank and Maud moved to California in 1909, thinking that the climate would be better for his health.
They moved near Glendale to a home they called Ozcot. Frank continued writing and also took the time to garden. He bought his usual intensity to the task and was able to make a name for himself as a grower and exhibitor of prize chrysanthemums and dahlias and won many awards. He also continued to suffer from ever-failing health and put two completed manuscripts into a lock box to be opened in the event he died or became too ill to write. They were published posthumously.
He suffered a stroke on May 5, 1919 and died the next day. His oldest son, Frank Jr. and others continued the Oz books, plays and radio shows. However, none received the success of the 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz” and for many this is their most significant knowledge of his work.
