Dee Michel

Dee Michel holds a Ph.D. in library and information science and is a lifelong Wizard of Oz fan. His article on gay men and Oz appeared in the Baum Bugle, the journal of the International Wizard of Oz Club, in 2002. He has given talks on Oz and gay men at the Library of Congress, academic conferences in the U.S. and England, gay studies classes, and Oz conventions. In 2006 he spoke on “The Cowardly Lion and Courage to be Who You Are,” at Boston’s GLBT Youth Pride rally. His work on Oz and gay men and boys has been discussed in the Village Voice, the New York Review of Books, online and on the radio, and in academic works.

Dee’s father, Martin Michel, was gay himself and read the Oz books as bedtime stories to Dee and his brother, and passed along to Dee the books he himself had as a child. Dee has been collecting Oz books and related materials since he was very young. Exhibits of his Oz collection, highlighting the gay connection, have been seen in academic and public libraries, and as part of a fine art show. He lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.