What are ten interesting things about L Frank Baum?

Answer 1

The following lists ten interesting facts about Lyman Frank Baum (May 15, 1856 - May 6, 1919):

1. He was educated by a series of tutors paid by his parents to come and instruct their son at the family estate of Rose Lawn

2. When he was 12 years old, he was enrolled in the prestigious Peekskill Academy about 43 miles (69 kilometers) from New York City. The campus was on a hill that had a panoramic view of the Hudson River. But the curriculum was strict, and Frank was miserable during his two years there.

3. His first job was at the age of 14, when he printed an ad-supported neighborhood newspaper at 14.

4. In his twenties, he began an acting career under the stage names Louis F. Baum and George Brooks.

5. Baum's wife, Maud Gage Baum (March 27, 1861 - March 6, 1953), was well educated and attended a boy's high school in Syracuse, New York and then Cornell University in Ithaca.

6. Baum's future mother-in-law, Matilda Electa Joslyn Gage (March 24, 1826 - March 18, 1898), was a supporter of votes for women. She disliked and disapproved of Baum as a daydreamer, but later changed her mind and became one of his greatest fans.

7. Baum's first book was published in 1886. Its title was "The Book of the Hamburgs." It told about the author's experience with and considerable knowledge of raising and breeding purebred chickens.

8. Baum was an unsuccessful businessman and then newspaper editor in Aberdeen Dakota Territory, from October 1, 1889 until April 1891. He lost both Baum's Bazaar and "The Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer" because of bankruptcy.

9. As a traveling salesman for Pitkin and Brooks china, Baum helped his customers with their window displays in the area of Chicago, Illinois. For one of the displays, he created a Tin Woodman lookalike in that the torso was made of a wash boiler with bolted stovepipe for arms and legs. The underside of a pan made a face, the top of which had a funnel hat.

10. Baum's first title for "The Wizard of Oz" was "The Emerald City." But he changed it after learning that publishers consider that books with jewels in the title will fail.