Scott Cummings first traveled to the Land of Oz in 1979 while reading a paperback edition of The Marvelous Land of Oz containing an introduction by Martin Gardner. Descriptions of a series of Oz books, Oz musicals and movies, maps of Oz, and readers debating Oz mysteries induced him into joining the Oz Club. Within months, he had read many of the Baum Oz books in his local library and began searching for out-of-print Oz titles and fan fiction.
While in high school he wrote and published an amateur Oz newsletter for friends and correspondents, and enjoyed visiting nearby Chittenango, NY - the birthplace of L. Frank Baum. Although most of his college years were spent in science laboratories and concert halls far from Oz, he did develop an interest in replacing his library of paperback Oz books with first and early printings.
“Prized items in my collection today,” says Scott, “include a copy of the first issue of The Baum Bugle, a first-edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz purchased at a recent Oz Club convention, and the many Oz reference books and new stories signed and inscribed by Oz Club friends.
Scott is a professor of chemistry at a private liberal arts college. He is the author of numerous scientific articles and co-author of a college chemistry textbook.