Of course we have more presenters! Here are three, starting with our Oz Club President, Ryan Bunch.
Ryan Bunch takes the podium Friday afternoon to share his understanding of the controversial Saturday Evening Pioneer editorials L. Frank Baum penned in1890. Following the death of Sitting Bull, Baum wrote what began as a tribute to the “most renowned Sioux of modern history” before a stunning change of tone that called for the annihilation of the remaining Sioux people. Ryan’s talk addresses this extraordinarily painful chapter in Aberdeen and Baum history, as well as the struggle fans face acknowledging the reality and significance of the editorials. Discussion time follows.
An active member of the Oz Club since childhood, Ryan’s book, Oz and the Musical: Performing the American Fairy Tale, was published by Oxford University Press in 2023, the same year heA received his Ph.D. in the Department of Childhood Studies at Rutgers-University Camden. Ryan received the L. Frank Baum Memorial Award in 2024. He currently teaches music studies at Temple University in Philadelphia.
Judy Bieber
Judy Bieber is a Professor of History at the University of New Mexico who teaches and researches the history of Brazil and Spanish America. Sunday afternoon her presentation, “Little House in the Big Cyclone: Home and Landscape in the works of L. Frank Baum and Laura Ingalls Wilder” will examine how little houses, big cyclones, and expansive prairies inspired the building of both fantasy and reality-based worlds. Judy will interpret how South Dakota served as formative landscapes and homescapes in the writings of both authors. Both produced enduring works of children’s literature that emphasize the themes of home and resilience in the face of environmental hardships in the late 19th century American West.
Judy been a member of the International Wizard of Oz Club since 1977, has served on the IWOC board of directors, and has published articles and book reviews in The Baum Bugle. She received her Ph.D. in History from The Johns Hopkins University in 1994.
Atticus Gannaway
Atticus Gannaway, another past recipient of the L. Frank Baum Memorial Award, served as the editor-in-chief of The Baum Bugle from 2001 to 2004. The youngest person ever to hold that title, he oversaw work on many important articles. A published Oz fiction writer since he was a teenager, his 2002 novel The Silver Sorceress of Oz was published by Emerald City Press. His current work-in-progress, The Men Behind the Curtain, explores how L. Frank Baum and his publishers turned Oz into a cultural phenomenon. Atticus has given many presentations on Club convention programs, currently serves as the Review Editor for The Baum Bugle, and works as a senior writer at the New York University School of Law.
During our Friday afternoon program, Atticus will join Nancy Koupal and Judy Bieber to discuss Baum’s “Our Landlady” columns.
