Gabriel Gale is the creator of the Ages of Oz series, the first two books of which were written by Lisa Fiedler and published by Simon & Schuster: A Fiery Friendship and A Dark Descent.  Mr. Gale was born in Brooklyn, NY, where the Bay Ridge Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library provided his initial passage to Oz. He is a graduate of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.  His illustrated talks about Oz have delighted elementary, middle, and high school students from coast-to-coast; he has entertained all ages in similar appearances at bookstores throughout the country, as well as at the major national Oz festivals. When not working in Oz, Mr. Gale makes his home in New York City.

John Fricke has spent incalculable amounts of time in Oz since he was five years old and deems it “an extraordinary privilege” to have interviewed Dorothy and her fellow Ozians for The Art of Oz text. This is his ninth book; earlier Fricke titles include The Wizard of Oz/The Official 50th Anniversary Pictorial History, and The Wizard of Oz/An Illustrated Companion to the Timeless Movie Classic (both about the MGM film); 100 Years of Oz and The Wonderful World of Oz (tracing the entire history of the Oz phenomenon); and Judy Garland/World’s Greatest Entertainer, Judy/A Portrait in Art & Anecdote, and Judy/A Legendary Film Career. He received Emmy Awards as co-producer of Garland documentaries for PBS-TV & the A&E Network, as well as a Grammy nomination for journalism. He annually emcees the national Oz and Garland festivals and has spoken about Oz and Judy everywhere from “The Today Show,” NPR, and TCM to MOMA, the Film Society of Lincoln Center, and the Paley Center in New York; the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in Los Angeles; and the Deauville Film Festival in France.  His latest book is White Christmas: A Pictorial History of the Classic Holiday Film.

Lisa Fiedler is a West Granby, CT native and the author of this first Ages of Oz book series. She has written over forty books for children and young adults (under her own name and various pseudonyms) including the MOUSEHEART trilogy. Her young adult novel Dating Hamlet: Ophelia’s Story was named to the New York Public Library’s List of Best Books for the Teen Age. Her middle grade novel, Bradley and the Billboard won both a Parent’s Choice and a Children’s Choice Award.