> L. Frank Baum wrote the novel of the same name from which the film The Wizard of Oz was adapted. He was born in New York, in 1856, and grew up on the family estate of Rose Lawn. Baum spent much of his time on farmlands as a child, and the scarecrows he saw there both frightened and fascinated him. Baum's father was a wealthy oil magnate who sent him to military academy when he was twelve years old. Young Baum's experience there was too traumatic for him to continue, and his parents allowed him to return home. The future author's memories of his time at military academy would later influence his writings, especially The Wizard of Oz, which was first published in 1900 as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

> As a young man, L. Frank Baum received the enthusiastic support of his family throughout his many pursuits including acting, writing, theatre management, music composition, and newspaper publishing, but his greatest passion was acting. Baum had also worked at a hardware store where he used various materials, cans, and pipes to make tin men window displays to attract customers. In 1882, Baum married independent-minded suffragette Maud Gage who later encouraged Baum to create a story featuring a brave young heroine as the lead character.

> During his first years of married life, L. Frank Baum worked at his father's company while writing works of non-fiction. Later in 1887, Baum published his first children's book Mother Goose in Prose followed by Father Goose in 1899. L. Frank and Maud Baum had four sons, but no daughter. They did, however, have a niece named Dorothy, and Baum said that if he were to have a baby girl, he would name her Dorothy.

> In the Baum household, a favorite pastime was gathering around and listening to father Baum tell stories that amazed and intrigued. One night, Baum began a most unusual story that impelled him to write it down. That fantastical tale would grow to become The Wizard of Oz. According to Baum, he thought of the name "Oz" after gazing upon a file cabinet drawer labeled O-Z in his study. Others theorized that Percy Shelley's sonnet Ozymandias might also have inspired the name.