Our 2023 L. Frank Baum Memorial Award recipient, Blair Frodelius, is well known for his work to support Oz fans in several ways. He created TheOzIndex.com database of more than 1,600 published books related to Oz and Baum to, “enable Oz and Baum collectors to more fully understand the incredible influence that these books continue to have on modern literature.” Regular updates add new books of value to Oz fans and scholars as they are published.
For his Daily Ozmopolitan (https://ozmapolitan.wordpress.com/) site he has gathered, organized, presented, and archived Oz news from around the world for more than 17 years. Fans can have Oz news updates emailed directly to them through this tremendous resource.
Blair first joined the Oz Club as a teenager in 1977 has been an active volunteer. He’s been our webmaster, our digital news editor, and he grew our Facebook page—through more than six years of his daily posts—to nearly 8000 followers. You will see him as a contributor to the Baum Bugle, and performing on our convention and YouTube channel.
Whether he’s reading an Oziana story on the YouTube channel, narrating a production for a virtual event, or answering questions for local media, he’s been a great help to our Club efforts.
Examples of his convention work includes the role of Easton in a staged performance of Baum’s Tamawaca Folks, interviewing special guests Charles Santore, Eric Shanower, and Roger Baum, and performing alongside Bob Baum in dramatic readings of L. Frank Baum’s correspondence with his publishers.
Blair’s prominence as an Oz fan followed his early participation in Club conventions on the East Coast, often attended with his wife and any number of their six children. The public festivals in Chittenango are right in his back yard, taking him from it’s musical stage to the cases of the All Things Oz museum where he’s loaned material for displays.
His 2023 L. Frank Baum Memorial Award honors these decades of service and lasting contributions to the work and purposes of the Oz International Wizard of Oz Club.
