By: John Fricke With jubilant multitudes at every turn – and Ozzy, family, and festival enthusiasm throughout all three days of activities and merriment – the annual OZ-Stravaganza! roared to its latest success from June 3-5, in Chittenango, NY. Birthplace of Oz discoverer/chronicler (and first “Royal Historian”) L. Frank Baum, the quiet village of less […]
Author Archives: Administrator
REMEMBERING DICK MARTIN: HE WAS POST-DENSLOW & NEILL; HE WAS PRE-GABRIEL GALE — AND HE WAS BOTH COMPATRIOT AND OZ ILLUSTRATOR EXTRAORDINARE!
by John Fricke Gabriel Gale and I recently finished another round of promotional work on behalf of the new book, THE ART OF OZ, which — of course — is built around his exciting, colorful, and glorious depictions of many of L. Frank Baum’s original characters. That Rizzoli volume also honors the first two preeminent […]
😊 OZ-STRAVAGANZA! RETURNS LIVE & “IN PERSON” – ON ITS 45TH ANNIVERSARY! CELEBRATE AN MGM OZ MOVIE “MUNCHKIN” IN HER CHITTENANGO DEBUT –PLUS THE 10th ANNIVERSARY OF THE “ALL THINGS OZ” MUSEUM!
By: John Fricke We’re back! for the (almost annual) forty-fifth time! Yes, we had to slow down for a couple of years, but it took a world-wide pandemic to do it. And now, for the first go-round since 2019, we’re once again “Off to See the Wizard” — and everyone else. (Toto, too!) Meanwhile, you […]
WHAT MIGHT FRANK HAVE THOUGHT? – PART THREE
by John Fricke Welcome! to the third and final installment of blogs that ponder the question, “What might L. Frank Baum have thought about the classic Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical movie made from his first Oz book?” – a film that wasn’t completed or released until twenty years after he himself had passed away. Baum, of course, […]
WHAT MIGHT FRANK HAVE THOUGHT? – PART TWO
By John Fricke Last month’s blog was conceived as a (pretty much unarguable) celebration of the two most important factors in the world’s continuing love affair with All Things Oz. These are, of course, the original story, characters, and concepts created by L. Frank Baum for his 1900 book, THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ, and […]
WHAT MIGHT FRANK HAVE THOUGHT? – PART ONE
BY: John Fricke We’ve had a number of multiple-topic blogs here across the last six months, so for the next two entries, I thought it might be a good (and hopefully entertaining) idea to “get back to basics.” As a result, our February and March discussions will concentrate on an alignment of the two fundamental […]
REMEMBERING, RESPONDING, REJOICING: A “NEW YEAR” MEDLEY OF OZ!
By: John Fricke Frank Sinatra sang it best: “Who knows where the road will lead us? Only a fool would say . . . .” Well, fool I may be, but I’m not foolish enough to actively predict the unfolding, unraveling, and/or unimaginable delights of 2022 — no matter how much hope we all have […]
WE NEED A “FRANK BAUM” CHRISTMAS!
By John Fricke One plain and simple fact should come as no surprise to anyone reading here: L. Frank Baum had a limitless imagination and — to be sure — extraordinary real-life adventures. That combination led him to write not only about Oz and its countless unique citizens and hamlets, but to pen dozens of […]
POSTERS & HERALDS & ADS . . . OH, OZ! (PART TWO)
By John Fricke Across the last three decades or so, I’ve been the very, very grateful recipient of a number of kind comments about the books I’ve written. (The current THE ART OF OZ is number eight.) What I’ve heard across the boards, more than anything else, is a sort of glowing estimation: “The pictures […]
POSTERS & HERALDS & ADS . . . OH, OZ! (PART ONE)
By John Fricke A picture, we hear, is worth a thousand words. Well, if that be true, the purpose of this blog is to spare you (most!) of ten thousand words . . . and simply provide some Ozzy art that it’s hoped will spur joy, nostalgia, curiosity, and memories. Most of all, may it […]