Vol. 38, no. 1 (Spring 1994)
| Editor-in-Chief | Lynne Smith |
| Production Editors | Daniel K. Smith (uncredited) |
| Bibliography Editor | Peter E. Hanff |
| Review Editor | Stephen J. Teller |
| Contributing Editors | John Fricke, Martin Gardner, Douglas G. Greene, Eleanor Kennedy, Dorothy Curtiss Maryott, Patrick Maund, David Moyer, Jim Vander Noot |
Front cover art by John R. Neill (The Emerald City of Oz)
Back cover art by John R. Neill (“Pressing Cider”)
Spring 1994 Selected Contents
This is a guide to the articles and reviews from the issue that will most benefit researchers, scholars, and collectors. The printed issue includes additional content such as news, editorial letters, and other commentary-based departments.
John R. Neill, Brother and Father
Annrea Neill, second daughter of John. R. Neill, introduces a unfinished but detailed biographical sketch of her father as written by her uncle, Harry Neill, at the request of Reilly & Lee president Frank O’Donnell. The unfinished piece ends in the early 1900s, but Annrea picks up the tale to tell the rest of John’s story. While both parts of the sketch cover his entire life and career, there is special emphasis on how he was seen by his family, both as a child and as an adult. Illustrated with many family photos, as well as unpublished sketches of Oz characters from the 1940s.
Fond Memories of Mr. Neill
Catherine “Catchi” Childs, the Neills’ next-door neighbor during her childhood in Great Neck, New York, recalls her visits to the Neill home and John’s studio in a brief memoir piece.
He Creates Fairyland for Kensington’s Real Junior Set
An interview with John R. Neill, reprinted from the Great Neck News of July 20, 1929.
An Illustrator’s Illustrator (Part 1)
Michael Patrick Hearn pens a thorough biographical examination of Neill, focusing a historian’s lens on his career development and the evolution of his artistic style. This first installment takes Neill up to the early 1920s and the inception of Ruth Plumly Thompson’s time as the Royal Historian. However, despite the excellent research and compelling narrative, it seems Part 2 was never printed!
Reviews
The Wicked Witch of Oz by Rachel Cosgrove Payes (fiction; reviewer Robert B. Luehrs)
The Wind and the Wizard by Richard Roberts (fiction; reviewer Richard R. Rutter)
The Other Side of Oz by Buddy Ebsen (non-fiction; reviewer Michael Gessel)
The Giant Garden of Oz by Eric Shanower (fiction; reviewer Stephen J. Teller)