Born: May 15, 1856

Died: May 6, 1919

L. Frank Baum is best known for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the children's classic that defined his career and legacy. He was an enormously prolific writer—55 novels published, plus four that were lost, 83 short stories, over 200 poems, numerous scripts, and various miscellaneous pieces. Beyond the original Oz, he wrote thirteen sequels to that book and nine other fantasy novels, constantly experimenting with the form.

What's striking about Baum's work, especially looking back, is how forward-thinking it was. He imagined technologies that wouldn't become commonplace until decades later: laptop computers and wireless phones appear in his novels, as do concepts that feel almost too modern for the early 1900s—augmented reality, television-like devices, advertising plastered all over clothing. He also wrote female characters doing dangerous, physically demanding work long before that became standard in children's literature.

Throughout his life, Baum was obsessed with adapting his stories for stage and screen. He pursued these ambitions relentlessly, sensing early on that his worlds could come alive beyond the page. It's fitting that the most famous adaptation of his work would eventually become a classic of cinema itself.