This evening Blair Frodelius was named the recipient of the International Wizard of Oz Club’s 2023 L. Frank Baum Memorial Award. Congratulations, Blair!

This award has been presented annually since 1961. The bar was set high; that first one went to Dick Martin. Today the past winners nominate and vote on the recipient, choosing someone who has made an outstanding contribution to the work and purposes of the Oz Club.

Which are:
To educate and encourage the interest of its members and the general public in the writings of L. Frank Baum and other authors about the Land of Oz;
To facilitate the collecting of works related to Oz and its creators;
To promote research about authors, illustrators, critics, and other matters related to Oz;
To encourage original writing and other forms of expression about Oz; and
To provide forums for people to meet and share their interest in the phenomenon of Oz

We’ll talk a bit about Blair’s contributions to Oz in a future note, but wanted to let you all know as quickly as possible that congratulations are in order for Blair.