Dr. Elliot Engel Dazzles NOC Crowd With ‘Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ Anecdotes

Famed author Dr. Eliot Engel revealed the life of L. Frank Baum and the reasons for the enduring and endearing fame of his “Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” at Northern Oklahoma College last week as part of the Fall 2024 Renfro Endowed Lectureship Program.

Dr. Engel used provocative anecdotes, analysis, and large doses of humor in bringing the “Wonderful Wizard of Oz” to life.

The event was sponsored by the Carl and Brenda Renfro/Renfro Endowed Lectureship Program, Charles and Virginia Starks, and Northern Oklahoma College/NOC Foundation.

Engel told many stories about Baum including his upbringing in Syracuse, New York, and how that led him to theatre and writing where he penned the “Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” in 1900.

He explained that the story of Oz fairy tale came from Baum’s storytelling to his children in their home in South Dakota where he created the story of Dorothy and her three friends who all needed something that in the end, she brought out in each one.

Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, Dr. Elliot Engel now lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he has taught at the University of North Carolina, North Carolina State University, and Duke University. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at UCLA. While at UCLA he won that university’s Outstanding Teacher Award.

Dr. Engel has written ten books published in England, Japan, Turkey, and the United States. His mini-lecture series on Charles Dickens ran on PBS television stations around the country. His articles have appeared in numerous newspapers and national magazines including Newsweek. He has lectured throughout the United States and on all the continents including Antarctica. Four plays which he has written have been produced during the last ten years. In 2009, he was inducted into the Royal Society of Arts in England for his academic work and service in promoting Charles Dickens.

For his scholarship and teaching, Dr. Engel has received North Carolina’s Adult Education Award, North Carolina State’s Alumni Professorship, and the Victorian Society’s Award of Merit. Most recently, he was named Tar Heel of the Week for his thirty years of delivering public programs in the humanities and sponsoring state and national literary contests for high school students.

Since 1980, Dr. Engel has been President of the Dickens Fellowship of North Carolina, the largest branch of this worldwide network of clubs. The sales of Dr. Engel’s books, CDs, and DVDs have raised funds for The Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital which Dickens helped found in London in 1852.

Professor Engel continues to teach outside the classroom and give literary and historical programs throughout the world. He also presents assemblies at elementary, middle, and high schools, and his educational CDs & DVDs are used in classrooms around the country. In his spare time, he likes to imagine all the impressive hobbies and leisure pursuits he could mention here — if he ever actually would find enough spare time to indulge in them.

Former Oklahoma State Regent for Higher Education Carl Renfro established the Renfro Endowed Lectureship Program with a gift in 2006 to provide support for cultivating and enhancing the cultural and community enrichment offerings to northern Oklahoma on the Tonkawa campus and in the Ponca City area.