100 Year Old Classic Lives on Through Oldest and Largest
WIZARD OF OZ Festival in Chesterton, Indiana and through
By: DEE DUNHEIM
L. Frank Baum's filing cabinet was divided into two sections:
One went from A to N, the other from O through Z.
He took the O and the Z and made it OZ

Roger S. Baum is the eldest living great-grandson of L. Frank Baum, author of the most widely read and beloved children's book of all times - THE WIZARD OF OZ - penned more than 100 years ago.
"Most people don't realize that The Wizard of Oz was written in Chicago, and the Yellow Brick Road was named after winding cobblestone roads in Holland, Michigan where great-grand father spent vacations with his family." This bit of trivia and much more of it comes from Roger Baum, appears at the annual WIZARD OF OZ FESTIVAL in Chesterton, Indiana. Over that September weekend, OZ fans and memorabilia collectors from across the country and around the world participate in what has come to be the largest and oldest Wizard of Oz Festival.
Just as the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. set aside a whole room to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Wizard of Oz - including the original manuscript and fountain pen which wrote it, Chesterton, Indiana has its own Yellow Brick Road and OZ Fantasy Museum. Oz fans hold an unqualified gratitude to Chesterton's Jean Nelson, who originated and founded the Festival 19 years ago. Nelson's ideas, fortitude and love of Oz, delights everyone who comes to the Festival to relive the dream - its characters and its music during this very memorable weekend.
Chicago's Humboldt Park was home to L. Frank Baum for many years. Despite a heart problem, he continually worked to support his four sons: He was a traveling salesmen, published a small newspaper and ran a dry goods shop. The magic, however, in his life was story-telling. Each story he envisioned, fired and sharpened his imagination for future stories. Baum became so well known and well loved by the neighborhood kids that they waited on his doorstop for him to come home to - our come out of - his apartment. "The tales were not tested not only on his four sons, but all the kids in the neighborhood," says Roger Baum. "My great grand dad told these stories for the love of the young at heart."

L. Frank Baum's wife Maud prodded her husband to write down what he so far had only been reciting. Reluctant at first, he finally consented, sat pen in hand, and of course we know the results: All in all Baum wrote 61 more books - several under pen names. Children of the world lost a dear friend when he passed on at the age of 62, but one hundred years later, he still lives in our hearts. His wife Maud survived him by 30 years and lived to be 92. Roger was blessed with the opportunity to hear stories directly from his great grandma as she sat in her big winged back chair. "Yes! She did get to see the movie in 1939, and even visited the set with Judy Garland," says Roger Baum, "I think she was pretty pleased with the outcome."
Just as L. Frank Baum's wife prompted her husband 100 years ago, Roger Baum's wife Charlene has also gently motivated her husband to follow the famous author's footsteps to continue down the Yellow Brick Road to write his own series of seven Oz books.
Whether you're young or old, the Wizard of Oz Festival hits responsive and emotional cords in all who love the life's lessons learned from Oz. "Take home a piece of Oz," says Roger Baum. "Join us in Chesterton in September to celebrate my great-grandfather's 100 year old book and the MGM movie that made it even more famous," he says.
Dee Dunheim