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From The Big Top Into The Big World: A Ringling Ringmaster's Final Bow

Johnathan Lee Iverson, the first African-American ringmaster of "The Greatest Show on Earth," helms the famed Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for its last performance this Sunday.
Iverson talks with his daughter, 8-year-old Lila Simone, in their home on the circus train. She and her brother, 12-year-old Matthew Felipe, have grown up in the circus and both now perform in the ring.

The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has been entertaining audiences for a long time. Its history goes back 146 years — to about the time when professional baseball emerged and before

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