This episode of The Past and the Curious is brought to you by Candlewick Press, publisher

of Zora and Me, the Summoner, a new middle grade novel by Victoria Bond.

The final installment in the acclaimed Zora and Me Trilogy, the Summoner is a fictionalized

account of the early life of American author, anthropologist and folklorist Zora Neal Hirston,

who we featured on our show before.

An absorbing tale of friendship and dashed with hints of mystery, Zora and Me, the Summoner,

is told through the eyes of Zora and Carrie, two best friends navigating racism, growing

up and the dangers of the South at the turn of this century.

Zora and Me, the Summoner, is available now wherever books are sold.

Well, hello everyone, my name is Mix Sullivan and this is The Past and the Curious.

Episode 51, it's become a little tradition that we do.

We've done four holiday episodes, whoa, and I guess I would call this my fifth one.

And we've settled into this thing that I really like where we tell the stories of some

toys or, you know, some things that are very common in the lives of children.

So today you're going to hear the tale of AC Gilbert, who invented many things, some

of which were wildly dangerous.

And before that though, a really fun story that I have a lot of friends helping out with,

it is the story of John Joseph Merlin, the man who is credited with inventing the roller

skates.

There are other versions of the roller skates that show up on the historical record before

this, but it was a big moment for the roller skate and it makes for a really funny story,

too.

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