Author: Jane Albright

Of course we have more presenters!  Here are three, starting with our Oz Club President, Ryan Bunch. Ryan Bunch takes the podium Friday afternoon to share his understanding of the controversial Saturday Evening Pioneer editorials L. Frank Baum penned in1890. Following the death of Sitting Bull, Baum wrote what began as a tribute to the “most renowned Sioux of modern history” before a stunning change of tone that called for the annihilation of the remaining Sioux people. Ryan’s talk addresses this extraordinarily painful chapter in Aberdeen and Baum history, as well as the struggle fans face acknowledging the reality and significance of the editorials. Discussion time follows. An active member of the Oz Club since childhood, Ryan’s book, Oz and the Musical: Performing the American Fairy Tale, was published by Oxford University Press in 2023, the same year heA received his Ph.D. in the Department of Childhood Studies at Rutgers-University Camden. Ryan received the L. Frank Baum Memorial Award in 2024. He currently teaches music studies at Temple University in Philadelphia. Judy Bieber is a Professor of History at the University of New Mexico who teaches and researches the history of Brazil and Spanish America. Sunday afternoon her presentation, “Little House in the Big Cyclone: Home and Landscape in the works of L. Frank Baum and Laura Ingalls Wilder” will examine how little houses, big cyclones, and expansive prairies inspired the building of both fantasy and reality-based worlds. Judy will interpret how South Dakota served as formative landscapes and homescapes in the writings of both authors. Both produced enduring works of children’s literature that emphasize the themes of home and resilience in the face of environmental hardships in the late 19th century American West. Judy been a member of the International Wizard of Oz Club since 1977, has served on the IWOC board of directors, and has published articles and book reviews in The Baum Bugle. She received her Ph.D. in History from The Johns Hopkins University in 1994. Atticus Gannaway, another past recipient of the L. Frank Baum Memorial Award, served as the editor-in-chief of The Baum Bugle from 2001 to 2004. The youngest person ever to hold that title, he oversaw work on many important articles. A published Oz fiction writer since he was a teenager, his 2002 novel The Silver Sorceress of Oz was published by Emerald City Press. His current work-in-progress, The Men Behind the Curtain, explores how L. Frank Baum and his publishers turned Oz into a cultural phenomenon. Atticus has given many presentations on Club convention programs, currently serves as the Review Editor for The Baum Bugle, and works as a senior writer at the New York University School of Law. During our Friday afternoon program, Atticus will join Nancy Koupal and Judy Bieber to discuss Baum’s “Our Landlady” columns. 

While by there very nature Oz conventions are experienced as live events and destination settings to explore, we will take the opportunity to watch three films together in Aberdeen.  We’ll start Sunday morning with the new Russian live-action film based on the first half of Alexander Volkov’s Wizard of the Emerald City. The version we’ll watch does have an English language soundtrack. The film runs an hour and 45 minutes. We’ll follow it with boxed lunches before the library opens to the public at noon. Sunday afternoon we’re also pleased to share a sneak peak at Jeffrey McHale’s wonderful new documentary, It’s Dorothy. After years of interviewing actresses who have portrayed Baum’s heroine, including Fairuza Balk, Ashanti, Nichelle Lewis, and Shanice Shantay, McHale has woven together their memories and observations for his film, which is now being screened at film festivals.  Edited to include commentary from many faces familiar to us from past Oz Club convention programs, the film is described as, “Exploring the meaning and evolution of a cherished character through the eras, we celebrate Dorothy as an enduring symbol of hope and a touchstone in our universal quest to fly over the rainbow and find home again.” Following selections of footage, Jeffrey will join us over Zoom to talk with us about the production. Join us to watch and discuss! PS. Ah yes, three. Technically there are three films. The last throws back to 1970 when the television western series “Death Valley Days” offered a 25-minute segment called “The Wizard of Aberdeen.” The plot loosely shares Baum’s years in our host city, although considerable creative liberties were taken with the source material.  While it’s not challenging to find, it fits the theme of our weekend, so we’ll include it to end Friday afternoon programming. And frankly, we need something for the majority of the group in that spot on the agenda, so a handful of volunteers can dash across the street to set up for dinner without missing more unique programming we all came to see.  

We’ve put the fun into fundraising for an interactive Saturday evening program July 19. Our Aberdeen Recreation and Cultural Center ballroom will be decorated to an Emerald City theme; everyone is encouraged to dress up in your Ozian finery. Costumes or cosplay—clothing that at least suggests an Oz character—Emerald City green, or anything that expresses your Oz interests will do. Walking cyclones are welcome! Break out the poppy crowns and monkey wings. Just bear in mind you’ll be sitting to eat dinner in whatever you choose, so maybe scale back on that Mr. Potatohead as the Tin Man idea this time.  After our meal we’ll hold our annual fundraising auction of Oz material. This will be our first dinner auction and our first evening auction, so we may need to tweak our traditions a bit. For example, it may be safest to leave your winning items on display tables instead of squeezing them in around dinner tables.  Another first: Jim Rutter, son of long-time Club member Dick Rutter, is stepping in to serve as our 2025 auctioneer. Susan Johnson and Alex Moore will form his experienced support team. Thank you Jim! Awards announcements follow (see last week’s blog) then it’s time for open mic night. Entirely optional, but if you’re willing, please prepare in  advance to bring the Oz character or topic of your costume to the stage. Singers can sing. Storytellers can read or recite. Collectors can bring a show-and tell. Whether you come armed with a puppet, a poem, or a personal tribute, we’ll celebrate all things Oz—while incidentally collecting your auction payments. Motivating us to make this evening a “masquerade” event is having Jim Rutter with us. His father has been as avid an Oz costume creator as there could be! In Dick’s honor we’ll serve up a collectible prize for favorite costume/performance entry in our open mic night.

One highlight of the Oz Club’s annual convention is the announcement of that year’s award winners. Three annual contests solicit entries for original Oz fiction, research, and artwork. The Club’s L.Frank Baum Memorial Award, our highest honor, concludes the awards portion of our Saturday evening banquet.  As long as there have been Oz books, fan have had stories ideas of their own. L Frank Baum occasionally praised ideas given him by young readers. Penning new stories was so popular among members that in 1971 we started Oziana, an anthology of short Oz fiction. Members who shared their original stories at convention contests tended to be the primary contributors. The fiction contest has formalized over time, but continues to be a way fans can share their original creative writing with us. The non-fiction category is designed to give anyone who has researched an Oz topic a way to share their work. These essays have sometimes later appeared in The Baum Bugle. The recent article about Oz maps, for instance, won the research contest in 2023.  Illustration was likely the first artwork category to be submitted, and is still the most popular. We’re always happy to find interested illustrators since volunteer illustrators are needed every you to bring Oziana stories to life! But through the years we’ve also seen sculpture, fabric art, and other media submitted. For decades contest prizes were collectible Oz items our long-time Secretary Fred Meyer found in the course of the year and purchases at his own expense. Since his death in 2004 we’ve shifted to cash prizes each named in honor of past Club members who were strongly associated with similar work.  The fiction contest became the Frederick C. Otto Prize for Fiction for a long-time member and writer of delightful original short fiction and verse. The C. Warren Hollister Prize for Non-Fiction honors another long term member who made significant contributions to the Baum Bugle. The Rob Roy MacVeigh Prize for Art is named for a gifted artist and animator who poured much of his talent and skill into Oz projects, including an unrealized feature animated film of the Wizard of Oz.  Each of those men received the L. Frank Baum Memorial Award at some point. You can follow links from their names to read their profiles.  While you’re there, take a look at some of our other past LFB Award winners and that award’s criteria. Nominees are considered each year by past recipients for the selection of a new honoree. Who will it be in 2025?  Join us in Aberdeen to find out! 

After a full day of programming at the KO Lee Library, our group will cross the street to the Aberdeen Recreational and Cultural Center for Friday’s dinner and our evening program. The venue will be closed to the public and the ballroom will be all ours. Chairman Jane Albright will be in Aberdeen the week of June 9 settling menus, but chances are strong this will be a buffet meal to ensure attendees can select what most appeals to them. Decoration will be fairly light with a couple photo ops and keepsakes created for the convention used as centerpieces.  As we wrap up our meal, the Ozian Players, under the capable direction of of Zoe-O’Haillin-Berne, take the stage to premiere Rob Lauer’s new play “Our Landlady.” Drawing on Nancy Koupal’s book, Our Landlady, and an earlier dramatization of the columns, “Prelude to Oz” by Aberdeen’s own Rod Evans, Rob has created an all-new dramatization for our convention. Zoe is rehearsing her cast over Zoom and anticipates a fun night filled with the stories shared in Baum’s playful—and often ridiculous—columns of social commentary. The Oz Club’s own Robert Lamont then moves to the piano to treats us to an evening of Baum music. A professional musician from New York City, Bob last appeared at an Oz Club convention in 2022 when he performed an evening of historic Oz songs in East Aurora, NY. Attendees are sure to enjoy his engaging style, fascinating introductions, and his contagious enthusiasm for all things Oz. Expenses are covered by your registration fee.  Join us in Aberdeen; it will be a night to remember!

The International Wizard of Oz Club is pleased to offer outstanding presenters on our 2025 convention program–all with unparalleled expertise in L. Frank Baum and his Aberdeen years.  Michael Patrick Hearn rose to the forefront of Oz research as his book, The Annotated Wizard of Oz climbed the New York Times list of bestsellers in 1973. Today considered the world’s leading Oz scholar, Michael’s early research into Baum and Oz placed him face-to-face with Baum’s descendants. He was given full access to primary research materials in libraries and private collections in what became a lifetime of study. Subsequent Oz projects include editing the Critical Heritage Series edition of The Wizard of Oz, providing the introduction to the publication of the MGM screenplay, co-writing W.W. Denslow’s biography, a revision of The Annotated Wizard of Oz in 2000, as well as innumerable articles, checklists, presentations, and interviews. Fifty years after that first Annotated Wizard, he continues to discover new information and share new insights. Nancy Tystad Koupal’s first book specific to Baum’s Aberdeen years, Our Landlady, looks at a humor column found in his newspaper, The Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer. Rich with humor, parody, and puns, Baum used the characters in his “Our Landlady” column to voice his opinions about topics of the day. Nancy’s Baum’s Road to Oz, the Dakota Years followed in 2000 exploring how his experiences there later surfaced in his children’s writing. A native of South Dakota, Nancy is director and editor-in-chief of the Pioneer Girl Project and founder of the South Dakota Historical Society Press. She was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 2009. An authority on the history of woman suffrage in South Dakota and author Laura Ingalls Wilder, she has worked with the Western History Association, the South Dakota Center for the Book, and others. In 2002, she participated in a symposium on “Women of the West” at the White House. Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner was born in Aberdeen and befriended Baum’s niece Matilda Jewel Gage more than 50 years ago. She recorded their annual interviews and regularly unearthed from Matilda’s home correspondence, photos, and ephemera tied to the Baum and Gage families—most particularly to Matilda Joslyn Gage, whose leadership of the Woman’s Suffrage movement had been largely lost to history. Describing what followed, Sally says she “fell in love with a dead woman.” It was a love that would change her life, leading Sally to receive one of the first doctorates in the country for work in women’s studies, to find and restore the Matilda Joslyn Gage Home in Fayetteville, NY, and to create the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation that works for social justice to this day. Sally is a nationally recognized lecturer, author, and storyteller of the history of women’s rights  who has taught women’s history for more than 50 years.  Follow our blog to meet additional presenters in the weeks ahead, and to learn more about what you can expect when you join us in Aberdeen. Ready to register for the convention? Sign up online here, or use the flier mailing now with The Baum Bugle.