It's mind-boggling to think of how much has change in the world since The Wizard of Oz came out in 1939-- and even more astonishing to realize that there are people who witnessed all that change happening. One of the last living people to have walked down the yellow brick road, former Munchkin Mickey Carroll, died last week at the age of 89, taking one more piece of cinema history with him.

USA Today ran a touching full report on the actor, whose only film role was in The Wizard of Oz, but who spent may of the last decades of his life making appearances and representing the Land of Oz. He also had a remarkably humble take on his own celebrity: "It's not me; it's the movie. When they see me, they think of their childhood, and it makes them smile."

Having never encountered Carroll, or any of the Munchkins, in real life, I now feel sad that I missed out, and once again amazed that a piece of the magic of Oz was actually still with us in 2009.