Who are Eloise Jarvis McGraw and Lauren McGraw Wagner, and how did they get involved in Oz?
Lauren Lynn McGraw (left) and Eloise Jarvis McGraw The McGraws are a mother and daughter from Oregon. Eloise Jarvis McGraw was an accomplished children’s book writer, who won three Newbery Honor Awards and an Edgar from the Mystery Writers of America. She had been writing for about twenty years when she and her daughter, while reading The Scalawagons of Oz together, thought, “This isn’t a proper Oz book,” and the two of them set about to write one of their own. They submitted the manuscript to Reilly and Lee, who were interested to see how a new Oz book would be received after a dozen years, and in 1963 Merry Go Round in Oz was published, the fortieth Oz book. While Lauren McGraw Wagner — now using her maiden name, Lauren Lynn McGraw, both personally and professionally — went on to a career in art, Eloise continued to write until her death in 2000. 7.17. What other Oz writings have the McGraws produced? After the success of their two new books by Ruth Plumly Thompson, IWOC asked Eloise
