Exploring The Wizard of Oz with Judy Garland & Oz Historian John Fricke

Meditations with Ryan Zlomek

This week Ryan sits down with John Fricke, the foremost biographer of Judy Garland and historian on The Wizard of Oz. In this episode we travel through time to 1900, the year the book The Wizard of Oz was published by L. Frank Baum and then make our way to 1939 to talk about the production and relevance of the MGM film almost 85 years later. John Fricke is a New York City-based writer who has published numerous landmark books including Judy Garland: The World's Greatest Entertainer, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: An Illustrated History of the American Classic. His newest book is about the film White Christmas and is due out in 2024. John is also the co-director and host of the documentary We're Off To See The Munchkins and is the featured audio commentary narrator on the Blu-Ray, DVD, and Laser Disc releases of The Wizard of Oz as well as the other Judy Garland classics Meet Me In St. Louis, For Me And My Gal, and Easter Parade. In this conversation John talks about growing up in Milwaukee, discovering the Oz books at a young age, the importance of libraries in his career trajectory, and gives a tremendous behind-the-scenes glimpse into the 1939 MGM classic The Wizard of Oz and its historical importance as the most watched film of all time.

If you're interested in learning more about John Fricke and the importance of L. Frank Baum's work, check out the All Things Oz Museum on the web where John writes a regular blog and consider coming to Chittenango, NY to visit the museum in person or attend Oz-Stravaganza the first weekend in June every year.

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