Mark W. Sorensen, past president Illinois State
Historical Society, will discuss the 125th anniversary of “The Wonderful
Wizard of Oz,” which spawned the classic 14-book series. Prolific
author L. Frank Baum spent much of his life in
Illinois, writing and producing children’s books and literature. He
penned 41 novels, 83 short stories, over 200 poems and at least 42
scripts. The 1939 adaptation of the first Oz book became a landmark of
20th-century cinema.
