Lyman was born at Chittenango, Ny, on 15 May 1856. He was the son of Benjamin Ward Baum and Cynthia Ann Stanton. He married Maud Gage on 9 November 1882. He resided at Syracuse, Onondaga, NY, in 1891. Lyman Frank Baum died in 1919.1 "The Thomas Stanton Society Newsletter", Number 13, August 2001 in an article entitled CYNTHIA STANTON. GRANDMOTHER OF WIZARD OF OZ states: "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. published in 1900 remains the most significant childrens' book in American history. It is a beloved fantasy, imitated, interpreted, adapted, and marketed. It amazes me to see my great grandchildren go "bonkers" over it. just as my children did long ago. There is a special family pleasure in knowing the background of The Wizard for it was written by Lvman Frank Baum. 7th of 8 children born to Cynthia Stanton...(and) ... Benjamin Baum.
Cynthia was forever concerned with this small. thin boy. born with a defective heart. The family moved to Mattvdale where Cynthia raised her family in a rose-covered farm estate called Rose Lawn. Frank was sent to the Peekskill Military Academy where he suffered a heart attack and returned home. It was the beginning of a long series of failures that would plaque him all his life.
Cynthia's husband Ben grew wealthy in the banking and oil business. Frank's brothers joined the firm one-by-one while Frank stayed home, bored and forever searching for the right career. He published little newspapers in his early teens. then at 18 discovered he was an actor. This was a disaster so he turned to producing plays in a string of small theaters. That venture ended when the houses were burned to the ground.
About this time Frank met and married Maud Gage. youngest daughter of Matilda Gage who with Elizabeth Cads Stanton and Susan B. Anthony drafted the famed womens' rights declaration. Matilda opposed the marriage correctly predicting a life of poverty because Frank was a good-for-nothing.
In the fading wake of California's gold rush the place to go was Aberdeen. South Dakota where it was "almost impossible to fail". Frank opened a variety shop carrying china and doll buggies. It failed. Never to be daunted Frank bought a Saturday newspaper and edited it until "that horse became financially tired and died".
Frank joked.
Frank and Maud with their four sons moved to Chicago where he left job after job. He cared so little about money that he couldn't even balance a checkbook. Perhaps he escaped from disappointing the world thru his stories.
Since his early days in Syracuse he'd gathered the neighborhood children around and spun wonderful fantasy about fairies and princesses. of bright green lands and brighter days than he had ever seen. He changed the face of children's entertainment.
Before the Wizard. stories for children were sterile morality tales that appealed to parents more than children. or terrifying fairy stories filled with rovaltv and dark evil forces. The wonderful .Wizard of Oz changed all that. The kids were in charge as they are today.
It was during a visit to Maud and Frank that Matilda Gage overheard Baum telling his sons wonderful stories and suggested he write them and try to sell them. Frank took her advice and four years later in 1900 published The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Now Frank was off and running. He received royalties froth Wizard and long sought financial success thru a prolific output: 14 Oz books. 17 books for girls under "Edith Von Dyne", six fantasy books as Laura Bancroft, six novels about young fortune hunters, and two boy adventure stories.
Frank once more began to wander. He invested in an ill-fated film venture after taking the family to Hollywood. In 1910 he went into bankruptcy.
Frank died in 1919 after which his wife Maud remarked "I don't believe he could tell the truth from fantasy". This may be just as well because it is evident he mostly recognized the good side of life. He eliminated traditional dragons and gorgans from his tales and reportedly told a minister friend "I've always felt there should never be anything except sweetness and happiness in the Oz books. never a hint of tragedy or horror. They are intended to reflect the world as it appears to the eyes and imagination of a child".
The Wizard of Oz passed into public domain in 1956. By that time the book had sold 5 million copies. By Nov. 2000 when the book became 100 years old the 1939 MGM film version had been seen by an estimated 1 billion people, mostly very young. more than any other film made.
Frank expressed frustration with his inability to do anything "great". As he wrote his sister. he reluctantly acknowledged he had at least achieved a kind of special success. "He was a good man and a good wizard". He expressed his guiding principle this way. "To please a child is a sweet and lovely thing that warms one's heart and brings its own reward".
A Former Munchkin Tells of Oz
On July 8th of this year a wizened little man sat with arms crossed as he told of his Munchkin role in the Wizard of Oz. Karl Slover is 82. one of more that 120 Munchkins in the original film. Most of the films principal actors are dead but 10 of the Munchkins are still living.
Karl is what is known as a pituitary dwarf. By the time he was 8 he was bareh 2 feet tall. He is 4ft 4 inches now. His father stood 6 ft 6 inches. His mother was just a few inches less tall.
In the movie Karl played a trumpeter. a soldier. one of the babies who popped out of the egg. and on one occasion played a female Munchkin because of the shortage of midget women. Slover was asked what Judv Garland was like. That is always his first question to answer. "She was real nice" he said" I didn't get a chance to talk to her much. She had a security lady who brought her to work from school and returned her. Judy was only 16 then." "Ray Bolger. Jack Haley and Bert Lahr were all nice" he said. "The doubles were the stuck -up ones".
It took two months time filming the midgets. The film was begun in 1937 and released in 1939. Every couple of years The Wizard of Oz hits another milestone and reporters are on the scene seeking out a shrinking number of cast members
SOURCE
U.S. News & World Report Nov. 6. 2000
Family material furnished be' Robert Manton
of Clue. N. l:
Herald Tribune, Bradenton, Fl. Sundae' July 8, 2001.1
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