What Is the Wizard of Oz's Real Name?
In my new book, The Lost Wizard of Oz, Glinda always calls the little humbug wizard, “Oscar.” Why is that? In the original story, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz , L. Frank Baum does not tell us the little Wizard’s real name. He is just called “Oz.” Nobody asks his real name, and he doesn’t offer it. It is not until the fourth Oz book, Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz , that we finally learn his name. In that book, Ozma has reclaimed her rightful place on her family’s throne. The Wizard has returned to Oz and Ozma wishes to meet him. In the interview that follows, she asks him the following question: “Please tell me, Mr. Wizard, whether you called yourself Oz after this great country, or whether you believe my country is called Oz after you.” Notice that she, herself, doesn’t know and nobody in her court offers to answer the question for her. Funnily enough, the Wizard does not answer her question either. Instead, he tells her a little story about where he is from and what his ac...