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'' (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 white ...

'' 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 r ...

, ''

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 aft ...

'' by L. Frank Baum, and '' The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' by

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

.''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 U ...

(1986), wrote the introduction to the first published version of the screenplay of ''

The Wizard of Oz (1939 film) ''The Wizard of Oz'' is a 1939 American Musical film, musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). An adaptation of L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's fantasy novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', the film was primarily directed by ...

''. 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 a ...

convention Convention may refer to: * Convention (norm), a custom or tradition, a standard of presentation or conduct ** Treaty, an agreement in international law * Convention (meeting), meeting of a (usually large) group of individuals and/or companies in a ...

of ''

'' mounted by The International Wizard of Oz Club, 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 reputat ...

, 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'' (children's picture book, 1987) *''

The Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' or ''The Wizard of Oz'' most commonly refers to: *'' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', a 1900 American novel by L. Frank Baum often reprinted as ''The Wizard of Oz'' ** Wizard of Oz (character), from the Baum novel serie ...

: The Screenplay'', (1989) *''

W.W. Denslow William Wallace Denslow (; May 5, 1856 – March 29, 1915), professionally W. W. Denslow, was an American illustrator and caricaturist remembered for his work in collaboration with author L. Frank Baum, especially his illustrations of ''The ...

: 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'' 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