The Authors of Oz

The story of the Wicked Witch of the West is one that first became known when L. Frank Baum published his book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The story was made into a Broadway show becoming the biggest hit of the season, and was eventually made into a famous movie starring Judy Garland in 1939. Sadly Baum never saw the movie, because he died in 1919, 20 years before the movie was released. Little did he know that the story of Oz had become so big that his publishers would ensure that the legacy would carry on after Baum’s death.

Ruth Plumly Thompson was the next writer to carry the torch for the world that Baum had created. She wrote 19 annual titles following the death of Baum, all contributed to by illustrator John R. Neill, who would write three more titles between 1940 and 1942. The series finally finished in 1963 with a total of 40 Oz books in the original series.

There are few people today who know nothing of the newest author of Oz, Gregory Maguire. Maguire is a now world-famous author who wrote the prequel to the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which he published in 1995. Wicked: The Life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West was published by ReganBooks starting Maguire off on his road to international stardom. Wicked became a musical in 2003, eight years later. And is now one of the most popular shows on Broadway and around the world. Maguire’s other Wicked books include Son of A Witch about the son…or the boy who might be the son, of the Wicked Witch, and A Lion Among Men about the life of the Cowardly Lion. You can now see Wicked the Musical on Broadway, so be sure to get your tickets while they are still available.

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