Where did the writer Liman Frank Baum live? Lyman Frank Baum biography

"When I was young, I dreamed of writing great novel and become famous. Now that I've started to get old, I'm writing my first book for the children's amusement. For, in addition to my obvious inability to create something “great,” I also realized that fame is a will-o’-the-wisp, when you catch it you are convinced of its worthlessness, but bringing joy to a child is a good and holy deed, it warms the soul and becomes its own reward. "

American writer, “creator” of the magical land of Oz. Worldwide famous classic children's literature, whose books have been filmed dozens of times, giving rise to many imitations and parodies.

Frank, born on May 15, 1856, had very little chance of ever living past the age of three. Already in the first year of his life, doctors did not hide the truth from his parents: the baby had a congenital heart defect. And only a calm, measured and happy life, preferably not in big city, and rural areas.

By the time Frank was born, Benjamin was a cooper making oil barrels. Precisely those that were called “barrels” due to the fact that that is how much oil was placed in them. But the seventh child became like lucky mascot- soon dad Baum from a cooper became a seller of black gold, and his business went uphill so rapidly that he became rich in a short time.

But the children were his headache. Four died before they even lived a few years, and five eventually became adults, but, alas, only Frank lived to an old age. But then, at the dawn of Benjamin and Cynthia’s youth, it seemed to them that their main task was to help their sick seventh child.
They didn’t just blow away specks of dust from him. He lived on a ranch, although his father had his own house in New York, most He devoted time to walks, and endured both heat and cold equally. Ben could allow the teachers to come to Frank; he did not go to school. He was such a bookworm that he soon overcame his father’s entire, by no means small, library. Most of all the boy liked Charles Dickens and William Thackeray. Dickens was still alive at this point, so all the new products that came from the pen of the classic were immediately delivered to Frank. By the way, such a passion for his son was a source of special pride for Ben. He told everyone: “My Frank cracks these books like nuts!” Although you must agree - the master psychological novel Dickens is not “too tough” for every adult...

Typewriter- best gift.

Frank's 4th birthday was perhaps one of his most happy days! The father came to his son’s room early in the morning and brought him a very large gift. When the boy unfolded the paper, he gasped: it was a typewriter! Quite a rarity at that time. Needless to say, that same day Frank and his little brother already delighted their parents with the first family newspaper. And then the newspaper, which later grew into a magazine, began to be published regularly. In addition to family chronicles, it also contained fiction - Frank often wrote fairy tales for the younger ones...

Restless Frank

In 17 years future writer began to publish a completely adult magazine. Since his second hobby after books was philately, the pages of the new publication were devoted to the history of stamps, various auctions, and travel.
Frank himself was truly restless - whatever he did in his youth. He started as a reporter, was the director of a bookstore, and studied at a military school for two years, where he experienced an almost physical aversion to drill. Then he decided to become a farmer, raised poultry, and at the same time published a magazine dedicated to poultry farming. But soon he got tired of this rather “unaesthetic” work. He returned to the city, became a producer at a number of theaters, and appeared on stage several times, playing in plays.
He was easy to speak, and his great erudition and erudition made him an interesting and memorable interlocutor. Ben and Cynthia (the writer's parents) were very proud of their son, believing that their Frank would not be lost in life. Moreover, he was quite purposeful and stubborn, the Scots-Irish sourdough affected him...

In 1881, Frank fell in love with the charming Maude. The “candy-bouquet” period dragged on somewhat; the somewhat frivolous young man, with his head in the clouds, did not seem to Maud’s parents to be an exceptionally successful match. But, firstly, the girl said that she would not marry anyone else but Frank, and, secondly, he, after all, was the son of a rich oil magnate, so he could well provide for the future of their daughter. If they knew that stubborn Frankie would rather go begging than take money from his parents, they might have thought about it. But young Baum adhered to the position that he should become successful on his own, because his father also once started from scratch...

Be that as it may, on November 9, 1882, Frank and Maude got married. They had four children, for whom Baum actually began writing fairy tales. Or rather, they were initially oral. Needless to say, the children listened to Frank with with open mouths, because he really loved to compose good fairy tales, in his stories good always prevailed over evil. And, besides, Frank admitted to Maude that he really didn’t want the children to learn life on “ evil fairy tales Brothers Grimm."
The first book that Frank officially published in 1899 was The Tales of Uncle Goose. In memory of how he raised Christmas geese in his youth. The children really liked the fairy tales, but since the older ones were no longer kids, they pointed out to the parent some inconsistency. Like, we want to know about magical adventures, and Uncle Gusak is “tied” to the poultry yard.

Frank and his family moved to South Dakota in 1888, where he worked for a newspaper. Then in 1891 the family moved to Chicago, Frank Baum and began working as a journalist there. In 1899 he published his first book, “The Tales of Uncle Gusak,” and a year later, in 1900, the most famous book in Frank Baum’s entire biography, “The Wizard of the Country,” was published Oz" (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz), a story about a little girl swept away by a tornado to the magical land of Oz (known in Russia from a retelling by A.M. Volkov under the title "The Wizard Emerald City"). A dramatization of Frank Baum's book was made in 1902, using this story in 1938 an extremely popular film was made. In total, Lyman F. Baum wrote 14 stories about the land of Oz, all of which special meaning is given to such American virtues as practicality, self-reliance, tolerance and egalitarianism.

Perhaps he would have written even more, but death from a heart attack confused all the cards of the Court Historian of Oz. However, the reader's love turned the period into an ellipsis. Also in 1919, the Reilly and Lee publishing house, which specialized in publishing stories about the Land of Oz, commissioned twenty-year-old Philadelphia journalist Ruth Plumley Thompson to continue the series. Ruth Thompson completed her task well, and as for the number of titles that came from her pen, here she surpassed Baum himself. The tradition of “continuation” did not die out - a variety of writers took up the baton. The illustrator of most of Baum's lifetime publications, John Neal, also tried his luck in this area, offering readers three of his stories.

Baum's characters - the girl Dorothy, the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion - in their popularity they can compete with such favorites of children and adults as Alice and Winnie the Pooh, hobbits and Peter Pan.

The famous American science fiction writer Ray Bradbury, an ardent fan of Baum’s series, noted that these tales are “all sweet buns, honey and summer holidays"Compared to the land of Oz, Carroll's Wonderland is a cold porridge of arithmetic at six in the morning, doused with ice water and long sitting at a desk." According to Bradbury, intellectuals prefer Wonderland, and dreamers choose Oz: “Wonderland is who we are, and Oz is who we would like to become.”

A well-known classic of children's literature, whose books have been filmed dozens of times, giving rise to many imitations and parodies.

Biography

Around the same time, Baum became interested in theater, but this hobby brought a lot of trouble. He was invited to join the visiting troupe with one condition - the costumes had to be his own. Baum bought the most expensive costumes and wigs, but they went into the coffers of other actors, and Frank got roles without words. However, this deception did not break Baum, and some time later he became an actor, as well as the author of melodramas and the owner of several semi-professional theaters that wandered around the Midwest and played for farmers, lumberjacks, and oil field workers - in conditions that hardly resembled theater ones. Once, Baum recalled, Hamlet was performed on a stage hastily built from boards. The Ghost King took only a few steps and fell into the gap. The inexperienced public, mistaking this for a spectacular trick, began to demand its repetition and did not calm down until the actor threatened to sue for bruises from repeated falls. The carefree years of his acting youth remained the happiest in Baum’s life. They, however, soon ended. Marriage and the birth of a son made me think about a more respectable occupation.

It was then that fate, which had so far indulged him, began to hit him painfully. Bankruptcy and death of his father, then a fire that destroyed all the theater property at once. We had to start from scratch. Then, following the example of many compatriots, the small Baum family went to the West in search of happiness. Dakota, where they arrived in 1888, was an almost completely bare prairie, dissected by a newly built railroad. The "city" of Aberdeen numbered about three thousand residents - mostly young, with little money and high hopes, attracted here by rumors of gold and fertile lands. As for Frank Baum, he had a special plan for getting rich: with his last money, he opened the first department store in the city, where all sorts of things were sold cheaply - Chinese lanterns, pots, sweets, bicycles. The store enjoyed wild success among children: they were attracted here not so much by the ice cream, but by the magical stories that the seller told without fail and with sincere passion. He never refused a loan to anyone. The number of debtors grew, and Baum's modest capital melted away. On New Year's Day 1890, the store closed forever, which did not stop the bankrupt owner from throwing a party for the birth of his second son.

A month later, filled with new hopes, he took the place of editor of the Dakota Pioneer newspaper. Baum supplied materials to the room almost single-handedly. Considering the peculiarities of his character, it is not surprising that the humorous column was most successful in the newspaper. By the way, the newspaper flashed this joke on the topic of the day:

“Is there feed for the cattle?” - they ask the poor farmer. “No,” he replies, “yes, I came up with the idea of putting green glasses on her and feeding her sawdust.”

Years later, this “trick” was remembered by Baum the storyteller: the Wizard will order everyone entering his city to wear green glasses, which will transform any piece of glass into an emerald.

Baum was not averse to political journalism either. In an editorial in the Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer in 1891, he endorsed the massacre of Indians at Wounded Knee, writing:

The Pioneer has already stated that our safety requires the complete destruction of the Indians. Having oppressed them for centuries, we should, in order to protect our civilization, oppress them once again and finally wipe out these wild and untameable creatures from the face of the earth. This is the key to the future safety of our settlers and soldiers who find themselves under incompetent command. Otherwise, we will face problems with the Redskins in the future, no less than in previous years.
Original text(English)

The Pioneer has before declared that our only safety depends upon the total extermination of the Indians. Having wronged them for centuries, we had better, in order to protect our civilizations, follow it up by one more wrong and wipe these untamed and untamable creatures from the face of the earth.

The Dakota Pioneer newspaper lasted a little more than a year. Grieving over yet another ruin, the family at the same time rejoiced: a third son was born.

Unable to find happiness in the West, the Baums moved back to the East - to the rapidly growing Chicago. Lack of money and instability followed.

It was then that Baum came up with the idea of trying to write for children. In 1897 he published " (English)Russian" - witty variations on the themes of traditional children's fables. The experience turned out to be successful. But a serious turn in his fate would appear later, when first in the imagination, then on paper (the stub of the pencil with which that first draft was written, Baum kept as a relic) a fairy tale about the girl Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion, the Wizard and their amazing adventures in some fairyland. The country was still nameless.

The name, according to the Baum family legend, was born on a May evening in 1898, when, as usual, the family and neighbors’ children gathered in the living room and the owner of the house, improvising as he went, told one of his fairy tales. “Where was all this, Mr. Baum?” - asked a child's voice. “And it was in a country called ... - the narrator’s gaze, running around the room in search of a clue, accidentally fell on an old bureau in the corner with drawers for home filing cabinets, on the top were the letters A - N, on the bottom O - Z. - ... Oz! » This is how the newborn got his name fairy world. Baum himself at first did not attach any importance to this event. But child readers reacted differently: they sent letters, came, visited and demanded that the unsuccessful actor, merchant, journalist and poultry farmer finally take up his business - they demanded a new fairy tale about the land of Oz. Baum gave in, although not immediately. It was not until 1904 that a sequel to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) was born. New fairy tale It was called "The Land of Oz". There is no Dorothy in it, but there are her friends the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, and there are also new extraordinary characters: Pumpkinhead Jack, a ridiculous, glorious creature built from poles and pumpkins and brought to life with the help of magic powder; Goats, thanks to the same powder, turned into dashing horses; the smug pedant Tumbling Beetle and the boy Tip are actually the enchanted Princess Ozma, the rightful ruler of the land of Oz.

Bibliography

He has written several dozen children's books. The most famous:

1897 - Mother Goose Stories in Prose (English)Russian
1899 - Papa Goose: his book (English)Russian
1919, published posthumously - The Magic of Oz
1920, published posthumously - Glinda of Oz

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in the library of Maxim Moshkov
in the project "Keepers of Fairy Tales"

Country as a whole

Books by L.F. Baum

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There was no room in the upper rooms of the inn: everyone was busy. Pierre went into the yard and, covering his head, lay down in his carriage. As soon as Pierre laid his head on the pillow, he felt that he was falling asleep; but suddenly, with the clarity of almost reality, a boom, boom, boom of shots was heard, groans, screams, the splashing of shells were heard, the smell of blood and gunpowder, and a feeling of horror, the fear of death, overwhelmed him. He opened his eyes in fear and raised his head from under his overcoat. Everything was quiet in the yard. Only at the gate, talking to the janitor and splashing through the mud, was some orderly walking. Above Pierre's head, under the dark underside of the plank canopy, doves fluttered from the movement he made while rising. Throughout the yard there was a peaceful, joyful for Pierre at that moment, strong smell of an inn, the smell of hay, manure and tar. Between two black canopies a clear starry sky was visible. “Thank God this isn’t happening anymore,” thought Pierre, covering his head again. - Oh, how terrible fear is and how shamefully I surrendered to it! And they... they were firm and calm all the time, until the end... - he thought. In Pierre's concept, they were soldiers - those who were at the battery, and those who fed him, and those who prayed to the icon. They - these strange ones, hitherto unknown to him, were clearly and sharply separated in his thoughts from all other people. “To be a soldier, just a soldier! - thought Pierre, falling asleep. - Login to this common life with their whole being, to become imbued with what makes them so. But how to throw off all this unnecessary, devilish, all the burden of this outer man? At one time I could have been this. I could run away from my father as much as I wanted. Even after the duel with Dolokhov, I could have been sent as a soldier.” And in Pierre’s imagination flashed a dinner at a club, at which he called Dolokhov, and a benefactor in Torzhok. And now Pierre is presented with a ceremonial dining box. This lodge takes place in the English Club. And someone familiar, close, dear, sits at the end of the table. Yes it is! This is a benefactor. “But he died? - thought Pierre. - Yes, he died; but I didn't know he was alive. And how sorry I am that he died, and how glad I am that he is alive again!” On one side of the table sat Anatole, Dolokhov, Nesvitsky, Denisov and others like him (the category of these people was as clearly defined in Pierre’s soul in the dream as the category of those people whom he called them), and these people, Anatole, Dolokhov they shouted and sang loudly; but from behind their shout the voice of the benefactor could be heard, speaking incessantly, and the sound of his words was as significant and continuous as the roar of the battlefield, but it was pleasant and comforting. Pierre did not understand what the benefactor was saying, but he knew (the category of thoughts was just as clear in the dream) that the benefactor was talking about goodness, about the possibility of being what they were. And they surrounded the benefactor on all sides, with their simple, kind, firm faces. But although they were kind, they did not look at Pierre, did not know him. Pierre wanted to attract their attention and say. He stood up, but at the same moment his legs became cold and exposed. He felt ashamed, and he covered his legs with his hand, from which the greatcoat actually fell off. For a moment, Pierre, straightening his overcoat, opened his eyes and saw the same awnings, pillars, courtyard, but all this was now bluish, light and covered with sparkles of dew or frost. “It’s dawning,” thought Pierre. - But that’s not it. I need to listen to the end and understand the words of the benefactor.” He covered himself with his overcoat again, but neither the dining box nor the benefactor was there. There were only thoughts clearly expressed in words, thoughts that someone said or Pierre himself thought about. Pierre, later recalling these thoughts, despite the fact that they were caused by the impressions of that day, was convinced that someone outside himself was telling them to him. Never, it seemed to him, had he been able to think and express his thoughts like that in reality. “War is the most difficult task of subordinating human freedom to the laws of God,” said the voice. – Simplicity is submission to God; you can't escape him. And they are simple. They don't say it, but they do it. The spoken word is silver, and the unspoken word is golden. A person cannot own anything while he is afraid of death. And whoever is not afraid of her belongs to him everything. If there were no suffering, a person would not know his own boundaries, would not know himself. The most difficult thing (Pierre continued to think or hear in his sleep) is to be able to unite in his soul the meaning of everything. Connect everything? - Pierre said to himself. - No, don't connect. You can’t connect thoughts, but connecting all these thoughts is what you need! Yes, we need to pair, we need to pair! - Pierre repeated to himself with inner delight, feeling that with these words, and only with these words, what he wants to express is expressed, and the whole question tormenting him is resolved. - Yes, we need to mate, it’s time to mate. - We need to harness, it’s time to harness, your Excellency! Your Excellency,” a voice repeated, “we need to harness, it’s time to harness... It was the voice of the bereitor waking Pierre. The sun hit Pierre's face directly. He looked at the dirty inn, in the middle of which, near a well, soldiers were watering thin horses, from which carts were driving through the gate. Pierre turned away in disgust and, closing his eyes, hastily fell back onto the seat of the carriage. “No, I don’t want this, I don’t want to see and understand this, I want to understand what was revealed to me during my sleep. One more second and I would have understood everything. So what should I do? Pair, but how to combine everything?” And Pierre felt with horror that the entire meaning of what he saw and thought in his dream was destroyed. The driver, the coachman and the janitor told Pierre that an officer had arrived with the news that the French had moved towards Mozhaisk and that ours were leaving. Pierre got up and, ordering them to lay down and catch up with him, went on foot through the city. The troops left and left about ten thousand wounded. These wounded were visible in the courtyards and windows of houses and crowded in the streets. On the streets near the carts that were supposed to take away the wounded, screams, curses and blows were heard. Pierre gave the carriage that had overtaken him to a wounded general he knew and went with him to Moscow. Dear Pierre learned about the death of his brother-in-law and about the death of Prince Andrei. X On the 30th, Pierre returned to Moscow. Almost at the outpost he met Count Rastopchin's adjutant. “And we are looking for you everywhere,” said the adjutant. “The Count definitely needs to see you.” He asks you to come to him now on a very important matter. Pierre, without stopping home, took a cab and went to the commander-in-chief. Count Rastopchin had just arrived in the city this morning from his country dacha in Sokolniki. The hallway and reception room in the count's house were full of officials who appeared at his request or for orders. Vasilchikov and Platov had already met with the count and explained to him that it was impossible to defend Moscow and that it would be surrendered. Although this news was hidden from the residents, officials and heads of various departments knew that Moscow would be in the hands of the enemy, just as Count Rostopchin knew it; and all of them, in order to relinquish responsibility, came to the commander-in-chief with questions about how to deal with the units entrusted to them. While Pierre was entering the reception room, a courier coming from the army was leaving the count. The courier hopelessly waved his hand at the questions addressed to him and walked through the hall. While waiting in the reception area, Pierre looked with tired eyes at the various officials, old and young, military and civilian, important and unimportant, who were in the room. Everyone seemed unhappy and restless. Pierre approached one group of officials, in which one was his acquaintance. After greeting Pierre, they continued their conversation. - How to deport and return again, there will be no trouble; and in such a situation one cannot be held accountable for anything. “Why, here he is writing,” said another, pointing to the printed paper he was holding in his hand. - That's another matter. This is necessary for the people,” said the first. - What is this? asked Pierre. - Here's a new poster. Pierre took it in his hands and began to read: “The Most Serene Prince, in order to quickly unite with the troops that were coming to him, crossed Mozhaisk and stood in a strong place where the enemy would not suddenly attack him. Forty-eight cannons with shells were sent to him from here, and His Serene Highness says that he will defend Moscow to the last drop of blood and is ready to fight even in the streets. You, brothers, don’t look at the fact that public offices have been closed: things need to be tidied up, and we will deal with the villain in our court! When it comes down to it, I need young people from both towns and villages. I’ll call the cry in two days, but now there’s no need, I’m silent. Good with an axe, not bad with a spear, but best of all is a three-piece pitchfork: a Frenchman is not heavier than a sheaf of rye. Tomorrow, after lunch, I’m taking Iverskaya to the Catherine Hospital, to see the wounded. We will consecrate the water there: they will recover sooner; and now I’m healthy: my eye hurt, but now I can see both.” “And the military people told me,” said Pierre, “that there is no way to fight in the city and that the position... “Well, yes, that’s what we’re talking about,” said the first official. – What does this mean: my eye hurt, and now I’m looking at both? - said Pierre. “The count had barley,” said the adjutant, smiling, “and he was very worried when I told him that people had come to ask what was wrong with him.” “And what, count,” the adjutant suddenly said, turning to Pierre with a smile, “we heard that you have family worries?” It’s as if the Countess, your wife... “I didn’t hear anything,” Pierre said indifferently. -What did you hear? - No, you know, they often make things up. I say I heard. -What did you hear? “Yes, they say,” the adjutant said again with the same smile, “that the countess, your wife, is going abroad.” Probably nonsense... “Maybe,” said Pierre, looking around absentmindedly. - And who is this? - he asked, pointing to a short old man in a pure blue coat, with white hair like snow. big beard, the same eyebrows and ruddy face. - This? This is one merchant, that is, he is an innkeeper, Vereshchagin. Have you heard perhaps this story about the proclamation? - Oh, so this is Vereshchagin! - said Pierre, peering into the firm and calm face of the old merchant and looking for an expression of treason in it. - This is not him. This is the father of the one who wrote the proclamation,” said the adjutant. “He’s young, he’s sitting in a hole, and he seems to be in trouble.” One old man, wearing a star, and another, a German official, with a cross on his neck, approached the people talking. “You see,” said the adjutant, “this is complicated story. Then, two months ago, this proclamation appeared. They informed the Count. He ordered an investigation. So Gavrilo Ivanovich was looking for him, this proclamation was in exactly sixty-three hands. He will come to one thing: from whom do you get it? - That’s why. He goes to that one: who are you from? etc. we got to Vereshchagin... a half-trained merchant, you know, a little merchant, my dear,” the adjutant said, smiling. - They ask him: who do you get it from? And the main thing is that we know from whom it comes. He has no one else to rely on other than the postal director. But apparently there was a strike between them. He says: not from anyone, I composed it myself. And they threatened and begged, so he settled on it: he composed it himself. So they reported to the count. The count ordered to call him. “Who is your proclamation from?” - “I composed it myself.” Well, you know the Count! – the adjutant said with a proud and cheerful smile. “He flared up terribly, and just think: such impudence, lies and stubbornness!.. - A! The Count needed him to point to Klyucharyov, I understand! - said Pierre. “It’s not necessary at all,” the adjutant said fearfully. – Klyucharyov had sins even without this, for which he was exiled. But the fact is that the count was very indignant. “How could you compose? - says the count. I took this “Hamburg newspaper” from the table. - Here she is. You didn’t compose it, but translated it, and you translated it badly, because you don’t even know French, you fool.” What do you think? “No,” he says, “I didn’t read any newspapers, I made them up.” - “And if so, then you are a traitor, and I will bring you to trial, and you will be hanged. Tell me, from whom did you receive it? - “I haven’t seen any newspapers, but I made them up.” It remains that way. The Count also called on his father: stand his ground. And they brought him to trial and, it seems, sentenced him to hard labor. Now his father came to ask for him. But he's a crappy boy! You know, such a merchant's son, a dandy, a seducer, listened to lectures somewhere and already thinks that the devil is not his brother. After all, what a young man he is! His father has a tavern here near the Stone Bridge, so in the tavern, you know, there is a large image of the Almighty God and a scepter is presented in one hand, and an orb in the other; so he took this image home for several days and what did he do! I found a bastard painter... In the middle of this new story, Pierre was called to the commander-in-chief. Pierre entered Count Rastopchin's office. Rastopchin, wincing, rubbed his forehead and eyes with his hand, while Pierre entered. The short man was saying something and, as soon as Pierre entered, he fell silent and left.




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Frank Baum (Lyman Frank Baum)(15.5.1856 - 6.5.1919) - American writer and journalist, playwright, author of children's stories, classic of children's literature. Until recently, his works were known in our country only through retellings by A. Volkov (“The Wizard of the Emerald City”).

Born in Chittenango, New York. Frank and his family moved to South Dakota in 1888, where he worked for a newspaper. Then in 1891 the family moved to Chicago, Frank Baum and there began to work as a journalist.

The sick boy turned out to be healthier than his brothers and sisters

However, tell in mid-19th centuries who Benjamin and Cynthia Baum that their seventh child would live so long - they would hardly believe this prophecy. If only because Frank, born on May 15, 1856, had very little chance of even living to be three years old. Already in the first year of his life, doctors did not hide the truth from his parents: the baby had a congenital heart defect. And only a calm, measured and happy life can save him, preferably not in a big city, but in the countryside.

By the time Frank was born, Benjamin was a cooper making oil barrels. Precisely those that were called “barrels” due to the fact that that is how much oil was placed in them. But the seventh child became like a lucky talisman - soon Papa Baum from a cooper became a seller of black gold, and his business took off so rapidly that he became rich in a short time.

A typewriter is the best gift

They didn’t just blow away specks of dust from him. He lived on a ranch, although his father had his own house in New York, devoted most of his time to walks, and endured both heat and cold equally. Ben could allow the teachers to come to Frank; he did not go to school. He was such a bookworm that he soon overcame his father’s entire, by no means small, library. Most of all the boy liked Charles Dickens and William Thackeray. Dickens was still alive at this point, so all the new products that came from the pen of the classic were immediately delivered to Frank. By the way, such a passion for his son was a source of special pride for Ben. He told everyone: “My Frank cracks these books like nuts!” Although you must admit that the master of psychological novel Dickens is not “too tough” for every adult...

Frank's 14th birthday was perhaps one of his happiest days! The father came to his son’s room early in the morning and brought him a very large gift. When the boy unfolded the paper, he gasped: it was a typewriter! Quite a rarity at that time. Needless to say, that same day Frank and his little brother already delighted their parents with the first family newspaper. And then the newspaper, which later grew into a magazine, began to be published regularly. In addition to family chronicles, it also contained fiction - Frank often wrote fairy tales for the younger ones...

Restless Frank

At the age of 17, the future writer began publishing a completely adult magazine. Since his second hobby after books was philately, the pages of the new publication were devoted to the history of stamps, various auctions, and travel. Frank himself was truly restless - whatever he did in his youth. He started as a reporter, was the director of a bookstore, and studied at a military school for two years, where he experienced an almost physical aversion to drill. Then he decided to become a farmer, raised poultry, and at the same time published a magazine dedicated to poultry farming. But soon he got tired of this rather “unaesthetic” work. He returned to the city, became a producer at a number of theaters, and appeared on stage several times, playing in plays.

He was easy to speak, and his great erudition and erudition made him an interesting and memorable interlocutor. Ben and Cynthia were very proud of their son, believing that their Frank would not be lost in life. Moreover, he was quite purposeful and stubborn, the Scots-Irish sourdough affected him...

Baum's children loved fairy tales very much

His first book for children was Mother Goose in Prose, 1897. It was followed by Father Goose: His Book (1899), which quickly became a bestseller. In memory of how he raised Christmas geese in his youth. The children really liked the fairy tales, but since the older ones were no longer kids, they pointed out to the parent some inconsistency. Like, we want to know about magical adventures, and Uncle Gusak is “tied” to the poultry yard.

Frank took the remark into account and began writing a “saga” about the magical land of Oz, about a little girl Dorothy from Kansas, who was “transported” by a hurricane along with her little dog to a land that none of the adults had any idea about.

Perhaps, while finishing the first book, Baum did not even think that the “series” would stretch for as many as 14 episodes. But the children demanded “a continuation of the banquet,” and the writer’s imagination worked with redoubled energy.

Although Frank Baum wrote more than 70 children's books, his fame rests primarily on The Wizard and the other 13 Oz stories, including Ozma of Oz (1907) and The Scarecrow. of Oz, 1915), all of which emphasize the American virtues of practicality, self-reliance, tolerance, and egalitarianism.

How Dorothy became Ellie...

And how quickly Baum’s magical story spread around the world! It was translated into several languages, and only in the country of victorious socialism, far from the United States, almost no one had heard about the author of Dorothy and the Land of Oz. Because there was one clever man, named Alexander Melentyevich Volkov, who, taking Baum’s “saga” as a basis, rearranged it in his own interpretation, “shamefully” keeping silent about the fact that Frank’s book is already at least 40 years old. Volkov’s work was called “The Wizard of the Emerald City” and appeared on the bookshelf in 1939.

It must be said that Volkov, a mathematics teacher in the Urals, was a good translator. And when Lazar Lagin’s book “Old Man Hottabych” was published in 1938, which immediately gained wide popularity, Alexander Melentyevich realized that, probably, a book in which even the most magical wonders will be "exposed".

However, God did not offend Volkov’s conscience. After the release of the fairy tale about the girl Ellie, he did not take on the continuation of the story for almost a quarter of a century. At first, he slightly changed his own version - in 1939 Ellie, like Baum, is an orphan raised by her aunt and uncle, and in 1959 - already ordinary girl who has a mom and dad. And dozens of such discrepancies appeared. And as soon as the period defining Baum’s copyright passed, Volkov “gave birth” to numerous sequels, which are still fewer than Baum’s. Volkov simply did not have enough time - he died in 1977, shortly after writing “The Secret of the Abandoned Castle.”

19 years of full glory!

But let's return to Baum. Over 19 years of writing, Frank wrote 62 books. Moreover, 14 of them, as I already said, were dedicated to The Magic Land of Oz, 24 books were written exclusively for girls and 6 for boys. And although we don’t know everything, in the USA the beginning of the 20th century was marked by the “Baum boom” - it was decided to film his book, and Frank personally participated not only in writing the script, but also in directing the film. In total, during the writer’s lifetime, 6 films based on his “saga” were made. In addition, from 1902 to 1911, the musical based on this book was staged on Broadway 293 times!

To be closer to film set, Frank Baum and his family moved to Hollywood. This is where he died...

Frank Baum's book was dramatized in 1902, and the story was made into a hugely popular movie in 1938.

Film adaptations

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz 1910 film based on the 1902 musical directed by Otis Turner
The Wizard of Oz 1939 film musical produced by MGM, directed by Victor Fleming, starring Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr and Jack Haley.
Journey back to Oz Cartoon 1971 official sequel to The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard 1978 film musical based on the 1975 Broadway musical, directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Michael Jackson and Diana Ross
Return to Oz 1985 film produced by Walt Disney Pictures, an unofficial sequel to The Wizard of Oz, directed by Walter Murch, in leading role Feyruza Bolk
iron Man(miniseries)

May 15, 1919, 90 years ago, numerous relatives of the famous American writer Layman Frank Baum had to get ready for his next birthday. It was not a big date, but about a month before the event, invitation cards were sent to the guests, and by the end of April they had already been received by the recipients.

Then none of the invitees knew that they would gather at Baum’s house a little earlier, and for a completely different reason - on May 6, 1919, Frank’s heart stopped. The writer, beloved by many generations of children, never lived to see his 63rd birthday.

The name of this magical country, according to the Baum family legend, was born by chance. On a May evening in 1898, Baum was telling his and neighboring children another fairy tale, making it up as he went. Someone asked where all this was happening. Baum looked around the room, looked at the home file cabinet with drawers A-N and O-Z and said, “In the Land of Oz.”

“The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” was published in 1900 and was so loved by readers that Baum decided to continue the story about wonderful country. Readers were looking forward to new stories, but after releasing the sixth fairy tale in 1910, the author decided to take a little rest. He published two tales about the Trot girl and Captain Bill, which were generally well received by readers, but they could not imagine that the story of the Land of Oz was completed. Letters of protest were sent, with proposals to return to their favorite characters. Actually, fans of Sherlock Holmes reacted in much the same way when Conan Doyle rebelled and decided to part with his hero. The insidious plans of both writers were doomed to failure. Readers prevailed - both Conan Doyle and Baum returned to their series.

Baum left fourteen tales about the Land of Oz. Perhaps he would have written even more, but death from a heart attack confused all the cards for the Court Historian of Oz. However, the reader's love turned the period into an ellipsis. Also in 1919, the publishing house Reilly and Lee, which specialized in publishing stories about the Land of Oz, commissioned twenty-year-old Philadelphia journalist Ruth Plumley Thompson to continue the series.

Ruth Thompson completed her task well, and as for the number of titles that came from her pen, here she surpassed Baum himself. The tradition of “continuation” did not die out - a variety of writers took up the baton. The illustrator of most of Baum's lifetime publications, John Neal, also tried his luck in this area, offering readers three of his stories.

A new surge of interest in Baum occurred at the end of the fifties. On the initiative of a thirteen-year-old schoolboy from New York, the International Wizard of Oz Club was created in 1957. The club still exists today and has its own periodical, in which, as you might guess, we are talking about the details of life in magical land Oz and about the latest publications on this burning topic.

In 1939, as Americans lined up outside movie theaters to watch the Hollywood version of The Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland as Dorothy, Alexander Volkov retold the series' first fairy tale in Russian. In general, he adhered very carefully to the original, although he omitted several scenes (the episode with the Warring Trees, the story of the Flying Monkeys, a visit to the Porcelain Country). Subsequently, Volkov proposed his own series, inspired by Baum’s motifs.

The real discovery of Baum in Russia, however, occurred in the nineties. The first sign was a book published in 1991 in “Moscow Worker”, which included the second, third and thirteenth tales of the series, and a little later a translation of “The Wizard” was proposed, where Volkov’s Ellie gave way to Baumov’s Dorothy and the text appeared in its original form - without cuts or additions.

Years of life: from 05/15/1856 to 05/06/1919

Writer and journalist, classic of children's literature. Among his compatriots who wrote and are writing in the genre literary fairy tale, Lyman Frank Baum remains the brightest personality to this day. Fairy tales are just a small part of the author’s work, but it is thanks to them that the author entered the history of US literature.

Lyman Frank Baum was born in Chittenango, New York. Frank had very little chance of even living past the age of three. Already in the first year of his life, doctors did not hide the truth from his parents: the baby had a congenital heart defect. And only a calm, measured and happy life can save him, preferably not in a big city, but in the countryside.

At the time of Frank's birth, the writer's father, Benjamin, was a cooper who made oil barrels. Precisely those that were called “barrels” due to the fact that that is how much oil was placed in them. But the seventh child became like a lucky talisman: soon Benjamin from a cooper became a seller of black gold; Moreover, his business took off so rapidly that he became rich in a short time. Father could allow the teachers to come to Frank themselves: he did not go to school. Frank was such a bookworm that he soon overcame his father’s entire, by no means small, library. Frank's favorites were Charles Dickens and William Thackeray. Dickens was still alive at this point, so all the new products that came from the pen of the classic were immediately delivered to Frank. Such a passion for his son was a source of special pride for his father. He told everyone: “My Frank cracks these books like nuts!”

Frank celebrated his 14th birthday happy: his father came to his son’s room early in the morning and brought him a very large gift - it was a typewriter. Quite a rarity at that time. That same day, Frank and his little brother already delighted their parents with the first family newspaper. And then the newspaper, which later grew into a magazine, began to be published regularly. In addition to family chronicles, it also contained fiction - Frank often wrote fairy tales for younger children...

At the age of 17, the future writer began publishing a completely adult magazine. Since his second hobby, after books, was philately, the pages of the new publication were devoted to the history of stamps, various auctions, and travel.

Frank himself was truly restless - whatever he did in his youth. He started as a reporter, was the director of a bookstore, and studied at a military school for two years, where he experienced an almost physical aversion to drill. Then he decided to become a farmer, raised poultry, and at the same time published a magazine dedicated to poultry farming. But he soon returned to the city and became a producer at a number of theaters; He appeared on stage several times, playing in plays.

In 1881, Frank fell in love with the charming Maude. A somewhat frivolous young man with his head in the clouds did not seem to Maud’s parents an exceptionally successful match. The girl said that she would not marry anyone else but Frank. So, on November 9, 1882, Frank and Maude got married. They had four children, for whom Baum began writing fairy tales; at first they were oral. Frank admitted to Maud that he really didn’t want children to learn life from “the evil fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm.”

In 1899, Baum published his first book, Tales of Uncle Gusak. In memory of how he raised Christmas geese in his youth. A year later, his famous story “The Wizard of Oz” was published. In the land of Oz there are no rich and poor, no money, wars, diseases, life here is a celebration of sociability and friendliness. For Baum, good always prevails over the power of evil, and evil itself, in most cases, turns out to be “fake”, illusory. Baum repeated more than once that he wanted to create a non-scary fairy tale in which - in contrast to classical examples - "miracles and joy were preserved, and grief and horror were discarded." The land of Oz is a dreamland, sharply contrasted by the author with the parched, gray Kansas prairie, where the heroine, the girl Dorothy, begins her journey. As one of the researchers, Baum, puts it, Oz is an ordinary American farm, where everything suddenly became extraordinary. The world invented by the author combines traditional attributes fairy tale folklore With concrete examples American rural life. The influence of L. Carroll on Baum is obvious, but the differences between English and American storytellers are no less obvious. In contrast to Wonderland, where Alice has to wade through logical traps, ironic intricacies of words and concepts, which indirectly reflect very real life relationships, conventions and prejudices of British life, Oz is a blissful country where conflicts, contradictions, and the shadow sides of life are abolished. The famous American science fiction writer, Ray Bradbury, an ardent fan of Baum’s series, noted that these fairy tales are “all sweet buns, honey and summer holidays.” Carroll's Wonderland, compared to Oz, is “cold porridge, arithmetic at six in the morning, dousing with ice water and long sitting at a desk.” According to Bradbury, intellectuals prefer Wonderland, and dreamers choose Oz: “Wonderland is who we are, and Oz is who we would like to become.”

Readers were looking forward to the author's new stories, but after releasing the sixth fairy tale in 1910, Baum decided to take a little rest. He published two fairy tales about the girl Trot and Captain Bill, which were, in general, well received by readers, but they could not imagine that the story of the Land of Oz was completed. Letters of protest were sent, with proposals to return to their favorite characters. So, a few years later, the author wrote a sequel - “The Land of Oz”.

Every year for Christmas, American children received from the author another story about a wonderful country created by his imagination.

Baum's fairy tales have been filmed and staged many times. Magic story Bouma quickly scattered around the world. It was translated into several languages, and only in our country almost no one has heard about the author of Dorothy and the Land of Oz. Alexander Melentyevich Volkov, taking Baum’s “saga” as a basis, rearranged it in his own interpretation. Volkov's work was called The Wizard of Oz, and it appeared on the bookshelf in 1939, as Americans lined up outside movie theaters to see the Hollywood version of The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland as Dorothy.

Over 19 years of writing, Frank wrote 62 books, 14 of them were dedicated to The Magic Land of Oz, 24 books were written exclusively for girls and 6 for boys. In the USA, the beginning of the 20th century was marked by the “Baum boom” - it was decided to film his book; The author personally participated not only in writing the script, but also in directing the film. In total, during the writer’s lifetime, 6 films based on his “saga” were made. In addition, from 1902 to 1911, this book was staged as a musical on Broadway 293 times! Perhaps Baum would have written more more fairy tales about the Land of Oz, but death from a heart attack confused all the cards of the Court Historian of the Land of Oz. On May 15, 1919, the numerous relatives of the famous American writer, Lyman Frank Baum, were supposed to gather for his next birthday. It was not a big date, but about a month before the event, invitation cards were sent to the guests, and by the end of April, they had already been received by the recipients. Then none of the invitees knew that they would gather at Baum’s house a little earlier and for a completely different reason - on May 6, 1919, Frank’s heart stopped. The writer, beloved by many generations of children, never lived to see his 63rd birthday.

Tales of Oz were and remain so popular that after Baum's death, attempts were made more than once to continue the magical chronicle. The reader's love turned the period into an ellipsis: a variety of writers took the baton. A new surge of interest in Baum occurred at the end of the fifties. On the initiative of a thirteen-year-old schoolboy from New York, in 1957, the International Wizard of Oz Club was created. The club still exists today and has its own periodical, which talks about the details of life in the magical Land of Oz and the latest publications on this topic.

The real discovery of Baum in Russia occurred in the nineties. The first sign was a book published in 1991 in “Moscow Worker”, which included the second, third and thirteenth fairy tales of the series, and a little later, a translation of “The Wizard of Oz” was proposed.

Baum's fairy tales are imbued with an optimistic belief: everything that a person can dream of is inherent in him. Baum was convinced that humanity and morality are not invested in people - they are awakened. The same goes for the fact that “a dream—a waking dream, when the eyes are open and the brain is working hard—should lead to the improvement of the world. A child with developed imagination", over time, will grow into a man or woman with a developed imagination and, therefore, will be able to cultivate and lead civilization forward."

On the set of The Wizard of Oz, MGM's costume designers were looking for a worn but elegant coat to dress the wizard. Having rummaged through local shops worn clothes, they found such a coat and, by an incredible coincidence, it turned out that it had previously belonged to the author of the book “The Wizard of Oz,” Frank Baum.

Bibliography

* Mother Goose Stories in Prose (1897)
* Father of the Goose: his book (1899)

* (The Wizard of Oz, The Great Wizard of Oz) (1900)
* The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1092)
* (The Wonderful Camp of Oz, The Land of Oz) (1904)
* (Princess Ozma of Oz) (1907)
* Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (1908)
* (1909)
* (1910)
* Patchwork of Oz (Patchwork Girl of Oz) (1913)
* Tik-Tok from Oz (1914)
* (The Scarecrow of Oz) (1915)
* (1916)
* The Lost Princess of Oz (The Lost Princess of Oz) (1917)
* The Tin Man of Oz (1918)
* (1919)
* Glinda of Oz (1920)

* (1901)

Film adaptations of works, theatrical performances

Film adaptations
* The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, based on the musical directed by Otis Turner
* The Wizard of Oz Musical film directed by Victor Flemin
* Journey Back to Oz, Animated film official sequel to The Wizard of Oz
* The Wiz, Film Musical, based on the Broadway musical directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Michael Jackson and Diana Ross
* Return to Oz
* Iron Man (miniseries)

Where did the writer Liman Frank Baum live? Lyman Frank Baum biography

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Film adaptations of works, theatrical performances