The Wizard of Oz

From the diary: “August 28, 1981

“Today we have the Singers’ Circle here. Bill and Adrian brought along Travis (age 3) and he played with toys in the bucket that David and I used to play with. I got out the younger children’s adaptaton of The Wizard of Oz that I have. [Travis] was interested, so I read it to him (sorta paraphrased actually). He wanted me to read another story so I got out the adaptation of Ozma of Oz.”

These were versions of the Baum books simplified and given elaborate illustrations by Dick Martin. These particular copies had been sitting, probably for years, in a local bookstore. Not until I joined the club did I learn that Dick Martin was the illustrator of Merry-go-round in Oz, had been a club member himself (until he died), and those kiddie versions of the Oz books that I’d seen sitting unwanted in the bookstore were going for bucks at the Oz auction.

I remember trying to talk the bookstore owner into giving me a price break for shopwear.

The Singers’ Circle was an informal folksinging get-together Mom was a big part of for years.