Sponsored by    in Canstota, New York.
ROGER STATON BAUM(Great-Grandson)
Roger Stanton Baum is a best-selling children's book author and the great-grandson of L. Frank Baum, creator of the original Oz book series. He has appeared as a guest on Today on NBC as well as Showbiz Today on CNN. Roger has followed in the hallowed footsteps of his ancestor by creating fourteen books to date about the magical Land of Oz. One of his titles, “Lion of Oz and The Badge of Courage,” was made into an animated movie by Sony Wonder featuring the voices of Tim Curry, Dom DeLuise, Jason Priestly and Lynn Redgrave. Another title, “Dorothy of Oz,” is scheduled to be released by Summertime Entertainment as a 3D animated musical, featuring the voices of Lea Michele, Martin Short, Dan Aykroyd, Kelsey Grammer, Jim Belushi, Megan Hilty, Hugh Dancy, Oliver Platt, Patrick Stewart and Bernadette Peters. 
    Roger continues to speak at schools to encourage children, of all ages, the young at heart, to use their imagination and think outside the box. Roger and his wife along with their three Cairn Terriers reside in Las Vegas, Nevada.
STEVE METZGER
Steve Metzger is the award-winning author of more than seventy children's books, including Detective Blue (IRA-CBC Children's Choice List), Pluto Visits Earth! (ABC Best Books for Children), and The Way I Act, approved for classroom use by the California Department of Education.
    Steve's latest work, his first chapter book, is Toto's Story: My Amazing Adventures with Dorothy in Oz. He lives in New York City with his wife and daughter.
    For info: www.stevemetzgerbooks.com.
RON BAXLEY, JR.
Ron Baxley, Jr. is an experienced Oz, fantasy, and science fiction author, is a former educator of 15 years, and continues his third year as a part-time correspondent/reporter for the “Times and Democrat” in Orangeburg, S.C. He is also a travel specialist with Mad Hatter Adventures Company and a contributing writer for the Disney Avenue fan-site at http://www.disneyavenue.com . 
    He had books published by Maple Creek Press for two years, including The Oz Omnibus of Talking City Tales for children and adult Oz fans. In late 2016, he had an article published on the late Eugene and Eulie David, former M.G.M. Wizard of Oz “Munchkin” actors and brothers who lived in his hometown of Barnwell, S.C. He published the article in the national magazine “Filmfax" after newspaper publication. He placed this article and a fictionalization of it and Oz stories in an Oz fan-fic collection, After Th’Oz. His combined Of Cabbages /Oz/Wonderland series, a gothic fantasy book for young adults and adults co-written with James C. Wallace II, was published for approximately two years by Maple Creek Press with illustrations by Gwendolyn Tennille. All three Of Cabbages books have now been separated into three volumes and have been moved to Oz illustrator Gwendolyn Tennille's imprint, GreenWitch Press of GreenWitch Designs of Florence, S.C. in 2017. In 2016, Ron was given the honor of a lifetime membership by the International L. Frank Baum and All Things Oz Foundation. 
    For more information on Ron and his other projects, see http://rbaxley37.wixsite.c om/ronbaxleyjrofoz or just do a web-search for WIX and Ron Baxley.
VINCENT MYRAND
Self -taught, fine artist, illustrator, and art instructor Vincent Myrand has been invited to attend 'Authors Alley" at The Oz Stravaganza this year.
    Vincent's 'Wizard of Oz'& 'Return to Oz' paintings have gathered worldwide recognition. Vincent has devoted his life to the arts. He was inspired by the 'movie' The Wizard of Oz' as a youngling, and shortly after discovered L.Frank Baum's Oz books. He fell in love with the characters and started drawing them constantly.
    He dreamt he would one day become an author or illustrator of Oz books. Membership in The International Wizard of Oz club helped fuel his passion for Oz!! (He joined club when he was 12.)
    Vincent’s passion for the Arts was recognized in high school when his teachers nominated him for The Haystack Art & Craft institute (Deer Isle, Me.) scholarship for that year. Also Vincent was involved with the Bates College Gifted and Talented writing program. After Haystack Vincent explored more art at Bates through part time art classes arranged by student outreach clubs.
    In his early 20s Vincent started to work for' Arts After School' as an Art Instructor. Later on Vincent decided to open an Art School of his own -The nonprofit Myrand Art Institution which was opened on Forest avenue Portland Me. in the 90s.
    In 1997 Vincent traveled to Italy on an artistic tour of Rome, Venice & Pompeii amongst other notable cities. Vincent already had a vast knowledge of Italian art and history. Vincent also has been involved with the local music scene as a front man in bands. In addition, he has painted many an album sleeve for countless bands.
    Vincent was also delighted to discover a famous Artist in his family tree. Charles Howard Hodges was an 18th century English portraitist to the Netherlands. He was celebrated throughout Europe. He was Vincent’s Great x4th grandfather on his mums side. A big delight considering Vincent had admired Hodges work long before the connection was made!
    Coming full circle Vincent has since returned to the land that started it all ' OZ' . “I wouldn’t be an artist if it wasn’t for Oz” says Myrand.
    Vincent lives in Maine with his loving family and loyal dog Zorro. Attending this year’s Oz-Stravaganza is a dream come true for Vincent. It has always been in his heart to return to Oz were the adventure began...
ALAN LINDSAY
Alan Lindsay a teacher, gardener, and scholar as well as a writer of novels and plays in a variety of genres. He explores Oz and other Baum-related material along with his longtime friend and collaborator Dennis Anfuso. On his own he tends more toward literary fiction. His novel A. was published in 2004 by Red Hen Press. A New England native, he has spent time studying and teaching literature in Indiana and Taiwan. He now lives in New Hampshire with his wife, Cathy. He is the Department Head of English at NHTI, Concord’s Community College. He holds a Ph.D. in English and an M.A. in Fiction Writing from the University of Notre Dame.  http://www.alanglindsay.com/
TORI CALAMITO
Tori is a life-long Oz fan and has been collecting Oz memorabilia for 20 years. In 2007, Tori posted a video of her collection on the brand-new platform called YouTube, and accidentally found herself on a brand new yellow-brick road!10 years, 600 subscribers, and 200,000 channel views later, “The Oz Vlog” has helped connect fans and collectors through the wonders of social media.
    The ultimate mission of “The Oz Vlog” is to facilitate communication between fans,collectors, and those with a passive interest in the world we all know and love to visit.Tori subscribes to the Ozian philosophy of kindness and acceptance, cherishing our differences, and living as Dorothy lived.
GWEN TENNILLE
Gwendolyn Tennille says she didn't have a choice of what she wanted to be in life. 
    “From the time I was a very small child the only happiness I had was coloring and drawing. It grew from there. I knew that I was going to have to do something with this when I got older because it was what fueled me. I tried other things because I didn't believe that there was an actual way that I could make a living making art. It just didn't seem possible for a small town girl from Nowhereville. I couldn't stay in any one place for very long without becoming absolutely bored with what I was doing and I had and still have a terrible habit of daydreaming. 
    But.... 
    An artist dreams. And, I do dream. Ever since I was little I can remember drifting off into a land of my own making. One in which my fingers became an elegant ice skater that glided across my desk as the shavings of ice sparkled in the winter sun. It's funny because I still do that. I never grew out of daydreaming. I wonder if that is something that others do or is it something that is odd to an adult. I remember using it as an escape from the mundane and a consumer of time. I know that some of the best pieces I've done have come from my daydreaming. 
    I dream of being happy. And, as much as it may make others laugh... 
    Immortality lies in the making of those dreams and I work hard and will continue to work hard to make those dreams come true. No one told me that I had to stop dreaming as an adult. 
    So, fast forward a few years and I didn't have a choice. Voice recognition took away the "job" that I had and in the midst of illustrating my first book, I thought it would be a very good idea to go back to school for graphic design. What a wonderful thing to do in the middle of a caffeine-no sleep craze of art! Looking back, it was one of the best things I did. Branching out is not a bad thing.” 
    Gwendolyn is a Mom, Grandma, artist, illustrator, author, and full-time super hero. She lives in Florence, SC and owns and operates GreenWitch Designs which she uses to house the art, illustrations, children's books that I have written and illustrated, as well as book cover art.  
    Gwendolyn is an established illustrator in the OZ universe, having done art for authors such as Ron Baxley, Jr., James Wallace II, Amanda Wallace, and even taken a couple of turns doing her own books. 
    She also is a participating artists in the "Play Me, I'm Yours" International Art Installation. This installation has been all over the world and in 2015, it came to Florence, South Carolina. 
    Gwendolyn has been involved in homeschool groups, comic book appearances, book store and festival appearances. 
    Her OZ work includes Illustrations for “Of Cabbages, Kings, and Even Odd Queens”, “The Slippers of Oz”, “The Talking City of Oz”, as well as author and illustrator duties for the books “Scraps New Shoes” and “Tik Tok & the Timekeeper’s Clock”. She also has written non-Oz novels, such as “In the Dark”. 
    Gwendolyn donated her original art pieces to the All Things Oz Museum in 2015, and we are delighted to have her art as a part of our permanent collection in the birthplace of OZ, L. Frank Baum’s hometown, Chittenango, NY.
TOM HUTCHISON
Tom Hutchison is the co-founder of Big Dog Ink comics as well as the writer and creator of The Legend of Oz: The Wicked West. The Wicked West is a re-imagining of the classic L. Frank Baum story but told with an old west twist. Instead of ruby slippers, Gale wears ruby spurs and her best friend Toto is now her trusty steed.  
    A life-long comic book fan, Tom first stumbled across comics at a flea market at the age of 10 and comic books quickly became a staple in his life. Tom has taken part in virtually every portion of the industry at one time or another, starting as a reader and collector and then managing a local comic book shop before moving on and owning his own store. Tom started assisting with other’s creator owned comics and now is writing and publishing his own stories as well as helping new creators with their projects in an editorial capacity.


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