L. Frank Baum!

Welcome to a SPECIAL EDITION of the Piece of Advice Newsletter!

Good Morning! Today we are looking into the celebrated author most famous for “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”; L. Frank Baum! I was even lucky enough to ask his great granddaughter who is also a celebrated author; Gita Dorothy Morena, a couple of questions!

L. Frank Baum’s career followed a repeating cycle of ambition, success, and financial collapse. Born in 1856 in Chittenango, New York, he showed early entrepreneurial instincts, publishing small newspapers as a teenager and later raising prize poultry. He turned to the stage in the 1880s, writing and producing “The Maid of Arran”, which toured successfully and briefly established him in theater. That progress unraveled when a fire destroyed production materials, ending the run and forcing him to abandon the venture. This pattern; creative success followed by sudden loss; would define much of his life.

In the 1890s, Baum moved west and attempted to rebuild financially. He opened a general store in Aberdeen, South Dakota, but it failed during an economic downturn. He then ran a local newspaper, The Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer, where he wrote editorials and serialized stories, yet it also closed. By the time he relocated to Chicago, Baum was heavily in debt and working as a traveling salesman. These setbacks pushed him toward writing children’s literature, not as a passion project alone, but as a practical way to earn steady income.

His breakthrough came in 1900 with “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”, which became the best-selling children’s book of its time in the United States. Baum followed it with a series of Oz sequels, eventually writing fourteen books set in the same world. He expanded the property aggressively; adapting it into a Broadway-style musical in 1902 that ran for years and earned significant revenue. At this point, Baum was a nationally recognized author, and Oz had become one of the first fully developed American fantasy franchises, complete with merchandise, stage productions, and loyal readership.

Despite that success, Baum’s financial instability returned. He invested heavily in The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays in 1908, an early multimedia presentation combining film, slides, and live narration; it failed commercially due to high costs. He later founded the Oz Film Manufacturing Company in 1914, but distribution problems led to its collapse. By the end of his life, he relied largely on continued Oz book sales while living in California. His legacy endured beyond these struggles: his great-granddaughter, Gita Dorothy, has contributed to preserving the family’s connection to Oz and sharing its history. Baum’s life stands as a clear example of creative persistence; marked not by steady success, but by repeated reinvention in the face of failure.

Bonus Question:

Giancarlo: What is the most important thing most people don’t know about your great grandfather?

Gita: There are a lot of things I admire and love about my great grandfather. I love what he said about writing “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”:

“It was pure inspiration. It came to me right out of the blue. I think that sometimes the Great Author has a message to get across and He uses the instrument at hand.”

I also love that he liked to garden, and won trophies for the flowers he cultivated. He was such a creative person, and must have had so much energy to be so productive.

Piece Of Advice:

Giancarlo: What is this best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

Gita: There are many things I’ve learned over the years, and one of the most helpful things I’ve been told is to “Relax, let go, and Let God”.

The Serenity Prayer has also been important to me. It explains in a simple way how to do this:

God, grant me the serenity to accept things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Please check out her work here: https://www.gitamorena.com/

Thank you for reading! Have an amazing day and we will catch you again soon!

-Giancarlo