Michael Patrick Hearn is an American literary scholar as well as a man of letters specializing in children's literature and its illustration. His works include ''

The Annotated Wizard of Oz ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (1973/2000), '' The Annotated Christmas Carol'' (1977/2003), and '' The Annotated Huckleberry Finn'' (2001). He considers the three most quintessential American novels to be ''

Moby-Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod'', for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant whi ...

'' by

Herman Melville Herman Melville ( born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are ''Moby-Dick'' (1851); ''Typee'' (1846), a rom ...

, ''

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz afte ...

'' by

L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...

, and ''

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' or as it is known in more recent editions, ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'', is a novel by American author Mark Twain, which was first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and in the United St ...

'' by Mark Twain.''Oz: The American Fairyland'' documentary by Gayle O'Neal and Leonard A. Swann, Jr., 1997 He is an expert on L. Frank Baum and is currently writing a biography about him, which sets forth to correct the numerous errors in previous biographies, many based on Frank Joslyn Baum's out of print and largely mythological '' To Please a Child''. As an Oz and L. Frank Baum scholar, he also edited ''The Critical Heritage Edition of the Wizard of Oz'' for

Schocken Books Schocken Books is a book publishing imprint of Penguin Random House that specializes in Jewish literary works. Originally established in 1931 by Salman Schocken as Schocken Verlag in Berlin, the company later moved to Palestine and then the Uni ...

(1986), wrote the introduction to the first published version of the screenplay of '' The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)''. He appears in the documentaries ''Oz: the American Fairyland'' and ''

Matilda Joslyn Gage Matilda Joslyn Gage (March 24, 1826 – March 18, 1898) was an American writer and activist. She is mainly known for her contributions to women's suffrage in the United States (i.e. the right to vote) but she also campaigned for Native Ameri ...

'' (1983), credited as an "Authority on L. Frank Baum". He gave the keynote address at the

Centennial {{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation) A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years. Notable events Notable centennial events at ...

convention of ''

'' mounted by

The International Wizard of Oz Club The International Wizard of Oz Club, Inc., was founded during 1957 by Justin G. Schiller, a then thirteen-year-old boy. The sixteen charter members, some of whom continue to make valuable contributions to the club, were garnered from the mailing ...

, and often makes public appearances in which he lectures on Baum. Hearn was a student at Hamilton College in 1968-69 and then transferred to Bard College, where he graduated in 1972. At Hamilton, he was encouraged to become an author by one of his professors, Alex Haley. ource re Haley and Hamilton: Hearn, “A Writer’s Roots”, NY Times Book Review, p. 1 (Dec. 19, 2021); source re Bard: items in www.annandaleonline.orgHis first book, The Annotated Wizard of Oz, was completed when he was a student at Bard.

Selected works

Other books as author or editor include: *''50 years of Wanda Gág's Millions of Cats: 1928-1978'' (1978) *''McLoughlin Brothers, publishers, 1828-1978'' (1980) *''Victorian Fairy Tales'' (1980) *''

Peter Newell Peter Sheaf Hersey Newell (March 5, 1862 – January 15, 1924) was an American artist and writer. He created picture books and illustrated new editions of many children's books. A native of McDonough County, Illinois, Newell built a reputati ...

, American Comic Illustrator'' (1983) *''The Chocolate Book: A Sampler for Boys and Girls'' (1983) *''The Best of the Andrew Lang Fairy Tale Book'' (1986) *''

The Porcelain Cat ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

'' (children's picture book, 1987) *'' The Wizard of Oz: The Screenplay'', (1989) *'' W.W. Denslow: The Other Wizard of Oz'', (1996) *''The Victorian Fairy Tale Book'' (1990) *''65 years of Wanda Gág's Millions of Cats: 1928-1993'' (1992) *''Native American Legends : Lakota'' (1995) *''Myth, Magic, and Mystery: One Hundred Years of American Children's Book Illustration'' (1996) *''From the Silver Age to Stalin: Russian Children's Book Illustration'' In preparation, (2008) He has also written articles for '' Horn Book'' and ''

The Baum Bugle ''The Baum Bugle: A Journal of Oz'' is the official journal of The International Wizard of Oz Club. The journal was founded in 1957, with its first issue released in June of that year (to a subscribers' list of sixteen). It publishes three times pe ...

'' and Liner Notes for Caedmon Records.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hearn, Michael Patrick American biographers American male biographers Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) American literary critics Children's literature criticism Oz studies