On Tue, 8 Feb 2000, Marilyn Harper wrote:

>      Somehow a random question about "Any connection?" crept into my most
>      recent message on Wizard of Ounces.  Since I have no idea what it
>      meant or even where it came from, either I am truly losing my mind
>      (very likely) or one of the local computer gremlins has invaded my
>      computer.
>
>      Sorry!
>
>      Marilyn

Since you were writing about L. Frank Baum, and since the query "any
connection??" occurred in parentheses right after the "baum" in my name, I
assumed you were commenting on the similarity in surnames.

Of course, "baum" is German or Yiddish for tree.  Actually, I think the
Yiddish is more like "boym", but names with "boym" presumably got
standardized to "baum", either in Europe or on Ellis Island.
"Kestenbaum" means "chestnut tree".

Unfortunately, due to the chestnut blight which has just about completely
erased them from the landscape, I have never actually seen a chestnut
tree.  Horse-chestnuts (buckeyes) are a completely different species and
don't count.

---
Lawrence Kestenbaum, [log in to unmask]
The Political Graveyard, http://politicalgraveyard.com