March Laumer

Who was March Laumer?

March Laumer was an American author, primarily of books on the Land of Oz.

March Laumer was born in Birmingham, Alabama, the son of an officer in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He was the older brother of science fiction writer Keith Laumer; their youngest brother Frank was also a writer, on historical subjects. March Laumer graduated from the University of Missouri, and taught abroad, including in Ying Wa College in Hong Kong and Turkey. Much of his maturity was spent between residences in Florida and Lund, Sweden.

March began writing his Oz books in 1962. He was a frequent correspondent of Ruth Plumly Thompson until her death in 1976. Most of Laumer's books were published by his own small press, Opium Books, in Hong Kong, or Vanitas Press in Lund, Sweden, often with illustrations by Lau Shiu Fan. Laumer's books often make drastic changes to the series and involve adult themes that have led some fans to label them pornography based on some oblique and non-negative references to bestiality and pederasty in The Green Dolphin of Oz, his best known and most widely circulated book, as well as the first to be published.