"L. Frank Baum: The Oz Man at Hotel Del Coronado" (in Southern California Quarterly, Fall 1998)

Los Angeles: The Historical Society of Southern California. Near Fine. 1998. (Vol. LXXX, No. 3). Journal. NOISBN . [a nice bright copy, some very minor smudging on the rear cover but no discernible wear]. (B&W photographs) 32-page article, illustrated with nine photographs, about "the love affair" between L. Frank Baum, author of the 'The Wizard of Oz,' and the Hotel del Coronado. For four of the five years between 1904 and 1908, Baum and his wife Maud "spent the winter months at the seashore resort across the bay from San Diego, [where] not only did [they] cherish the relaxation and mild climate afforded, but [where Baum also] found a vein of inspiration for his literary career. Indeed, he came to regard the surroundings at the peninsula of Coronado as a veritable replica of his own fairyland." Also contained in this issue: "Mission 66: In the National Parks of Southern California," by M. Guy Bishop (about the effects on California parks of a federal program instituted in 1955 to protect and preserve the National Parks); "From Orange Groves to High-Tech in San Fernando Valley: Boosterism, Rezoning, and the Emergence of a R&D Regional Economy," by Michael Wayne Williams; "'Waiting for the "L.A. School"': A Book Review Essay," by Philip J. Ethington; and eight book reviews. The attractive cover is an adaptation of a color promotional photo of the cast of the 1939 film classic THE WIZARD OF OZ, posed in front of an oversize copy of a version of the book that also features them on its cover; too bad the photo credit on the inside of the journal refers to the movie as "the Warner Brothers' 1939 film." Don't these historical people have fact-checkers? .