What is L. Frank Baum?
{{Infobox Person | name = L. Frank Baum | alias = George Brooks, Louis F. Baum, Laura Bancroft, Suzanne Metcalf, Capt. Hugh Fitzgerald, Schuyler Staunton, Edith Van Dyne, Floyd Akers, John Estes Cooke | image = l_frank_baum.jpg | image_size = | caption = L. Frank Baum circa 1901 | birth_date = {{birth date|1856|5|15|mf=y}} | birth_place = [[Chittenango, New York|Chittenango]], [[New York (state)|New York]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1919|5|6|1856|5|15|mf=y}} | death_place = [[Hollywood, California]] | occupation = [[Writer]], [[Newspaper|Newspaper editor]], [[Actor]], [[Screenwriter]], [[Producer|movie Producer]] | spouse = Maud [[Matilda Joslyn Gage|Gage]] | children = [[Frank Joslyn Baum]]<br>Robert Stanton Baum<br>Harry Neal Baum<br>Kenneth Gage Baum }} '''Lyman Frank Baum''' (May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an [[Americans|American]] [[writer]] of [[Children's literature|children's books]] during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best known for his most famous and popular book, ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]'' (1900), and other ''Oz'' books that followed it. ==Early life== Baum was born in a small [[town]] in Chittenango, [[New York state|New York]]. He was a member of a large family. He started writing as a child. When his father bought his children a simple [[printing press]], Baum and a younger brother wrote and printed a small local [[newspaper]]. As a young man, Baum wrote and staged [[Play (theatre)|plays]]. Sometimes he wrote [[song]]s for his plays and starred in them himself. He also tried many other [[career]]s. He was a [[travelling salesman]] and a [[Shop|storekeeper]] for a time. He started a newspaper while he lived in a town in [[South Dakota]]. He [[Marriage|married]] in 1882. He and his wife, Maud Gage Baum, raised four sons. Baum had a very good [[imagination]]. He liked creating [[story|stories]] for his young sons and their friends. ==Writing career== When he became 40 years old and was living in [[Chicago]], Baum started writing child