The Wizardry of Oz: L. Frank Baum
Dr. Elliot Engel
L. Frank Baum
Dorothy & Friends
The speaker for our October 2024 MRS meeting will be Dr. Elliot Engel. His topic will be “The Wizardry of Oz: L. Frank Baum.” This is the fascinating story of an eccentric American writer and how he came to write our nation’s greatest fairy tale.
The meeting will be on Sunday, October 27, 2024. We will gather at 7 p.m., eat a potluck dinner at 7:30, and begin the program at 8.
Dr. Engel has evolved from a university English professor into a local, national, and international institution with lectures, books, and audio programs. All his works are both informative and entertaining.
Originally from Indianapolis, Dr. Engel received his MA and Ph.D. from UCLA on a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship. He taught at UCLA, NC State, UNC, and Duke.
Although he may be best known for his specialty in Charles Dickens, the range of his scholarship in topics of literature and history is vast.
Since 1980, Dr. Engel has led the Dickens Fellowship of North Carolina, the largest branch of this worldwide network of clubs. The sales of his books and audio programs have raised funds for Great Ormond Street Hospital, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children, which Dickens helped found in London in 1852.
Engel's mini-lecture series on Charles Dickens ran on PBS Television stations around the country. In 2009, he was inducted into the Royal Society of Arts in England for his academic work and service in promoting Dickens.
Dr. Engel has generously shared his knowledge with MRS, mostly recently in 2013 with a program called “The History and Mystery of Wine.”