1998
Ruth Berman
Ruth Berman became an Oz fan before she could read, thanks to older siblings who read aloud. She started writing to Ruth Plumly Thompson, who told her about the L. Frank Baum exhibit at Columbia University. Ruth sent to Columbia for a copy of the catalogue, and, interested to see that a boy her age had loaned many rarities to the exhibit, wrote to Justin Schiller. As a result, she was one of the charter members of the International Wizard of Oz Club, which Justin founded in 1957.
Ruth has written a good many articles for The Baum Bugle, including ones on Ruth Plumly Thompson, Jack Snow, Frederick Richardson, the 1902 Wizard of Oz stage play, and Disney’s Return to Oz. She has been publishing for some years annual “Dunkiton” pamphlets reprinting rare works by Thompson, Neill, Denslow, Richardson, and others.
Ruth’s original story “Sherlock Holmes in Oz,” from the first volume of Oziana, was later reprinted in The Game’s Afoot from St. Martin’s Press. Other material of Oz interest also has appeared under Ruth’s byline in numerous publications.