Readers young and old were fascinated by the original story.

Its author, L. Frank Baum, had done a maze of work away from the typewriter — from axle grease salesman to theatrical manager — before writing the novel at age 44.

His life is a reminder that it's never too late to try a fresh, bold path and that failure is part of the process of learning to be successful.

"He was very flexible and not easily discouraged," Larry Schweikart, co-author of "American Entrepreneur," told IBD. "He was never afraid to try a new profession in a new area."

Baum (1856-1919) grew up near Rochester, N.Y. His businessman father bought him a toy printing press as a birthday gift when he turned 14.

He soon turned out a little magazine, starting a lifelong love of publishing and story writing.

By 16, he had launched another journal, the Stamp Collector, but stopped it during the Panic of 1873, when his dad's investments failed and the family had to sell its home.

"It was the culmination of a tension that ran through Baum's childhood between ambition, dynamism, wealth, status and privilege on the one hand and creditors, debt and impending bankruptcy on the other," said Rebecca Loncraine, author of "The Real Wizard of Oz." "This would shape Frank's volatile attitude toward money in the future."

Baum started working in the family dry goods store. He tried to make a living acting and writing freelance articles, later taking a general assistant job at a weekly newspaper.

On the side, he started an association for breeders of exotic poultry and published its magazine, which showcased what Loncraine called "his obsessive eye for detail."

Baum kept exploring. He managed his father's opera houses. At 25, he formed a touring theatrical company and ran it with his habit of perfectionism. Out on the road, he met his future wife, who joined the troupe.

When all the props and costumes were destroyed in a fire in 1883, Baum and a chemist brother launched a firm selling their formula for a lubricant for machinery.

Good Move

Baum stuck with it for five years, and with the money he made opened a luxury goods store in the frontier boomtown of Aberdeen, S.D. The outlet did so well, he opened a second location.

Source: Investor's Business Daily