“Well, the Wizard of Oz raised chickens,” Richard plaintively asserted, although he knew it wasn’t the Wizard, but rather L. Frank Baum, the Wizard’s creator, who had tried, but failed, to raise chickens, then later became an author of children’s books. Richard didn’t tell Lola about Baum’s occupational failures--of which evidently there were more than a few--for fear that she would discern too…