Tag Archives: robert pattrick

Baum’s Birthday Blowout

Yesterday was L. Frank Baum’s birthday, and the day before that, Michael Booth set up a virtual event to celebrate. There weren’t that many attendees, but it included presentations, and I’m too disorganized and socially awkward to arrange something like … Continue reading

Posted in Bill Campbell and Irwin Terry, Characters, Chris Dulabone, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Oz, Oz Authors, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

They’re Gonna Put Me in the Movies

The 1979 Oziana starts out by saying three stories “seems to be a typical number,” which is generally true, although the previous one had four. The cover illustration by Rob Roy MacVeigh shows the Scarecrow in a cornfield, with a … Continue reading

Posted in Animals, Characters, Chris Dulabone, Comics, Dennis Anfuso, Humor, Jeff Rester, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Poetry, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Jinnicky’s Body

We’re now up to the Oziana from the year I was born, 1977. The front cover shows the royal palace of Oogaboo, as drawn by Albert Chronic. The introductory page has a political cartoon by Bill Eubank that isn’t really that … Continue reading

Posted in Animals, Art, Characters, Comics, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Melody Grandy, Monsters, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Poetry, Politics, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Scraps on the Run

The Runaway in Oz, by John R. Neill – Before Neill’s death in 1943, he had completed a manuscript for this, his fourth Oz book. He hadn’t finished the illustrations, however, and that and other factors led to its not … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews, Characters, Dreams, Eric Shanower, Humor, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Marcus Mebes, Oz, Oz Authors, Poetry, Relationships | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

It Makes Me Wonder

Stairway to Oz, by Robin Hess – The author once again returns to the Nome Kingdom, an intended invasion of Oz, and transportation gates. It starts with a boy named Ryan Westerly visiting his parents in Colorado, who turn out to … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews, Characters, Dick Martin, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Maps, Melody Grandy, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sorting Out Sorcery

One running theme in Glinda of Oz is that there are several different types of magic in Oz, all of which have their specialties, but none of them can do everything. L. Frank Baum contrasts the fairy magic of Ozma … Continue reading

Posted in Alchemy, Characters, Etymology, Games, Jack Snow, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Language, Magic, Magic Items, Oz, Oz Authors, Politics, Religion, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Technology, Theosophy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Best of Inventions

If you’ve read the Oz books, you might remember Smith and Tinker as the creators of Tik-Tok, as well as the Giant with the Hammer and, as per Rachel Cosgrove Payes, the Hundred-Year Alarm Clock. I’ve written about them before … Continue reading

Posted in Characters, Chris Dulabone, Hugh Pendexter, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Melody Grandy, Onyx Madden/Jim Nitch, Oz, Oz Authors, Phil Lewin, Rachel Cosgrove Payes, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Automa-Tons of Fun

During a discussion of Ozma of Oz at the most recent OzCon International, Lee Speth proposed that, while Tik-Tok was not the first mechanical man in modern literature, he was perhaps the first artificial intelligence. L. Frank Baum himself had … Continue reading

Posted in Characters, Eloise Jarvis McGraw, Eric Shanower, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Oz, Oz Authors, Phil Lewin, Rachel Cosgrove Payes, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Books Within Books

One of Robert Pattrick’s essays in Unexplored Territory in Oz, “Books in Oz,” discusses just what it sounds like. It’s interesting to examine what books characters IN books read. Since fantasy adventure stories often don’t have a lot of down … Continue reading

Posted in Characters, Chris Dulabone, Dennis Anfuso, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Melody Grandy, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Rachel Cosgrove Payes, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Everything But the Kitchen Sink in Oz

It often seems to be the case that people who read Oz books by authors other than L. Frank Baum when they were young accept them as official, while those who read them later are a little more wary of … Continue reading

Posted in Characters, Dick Martin, Eloise Jarvis McGraw, Eric Shanower, Jack Snow, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Oz, Oz Authors, Rachel Cosgrove Payes, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments