On average, 35 million people visit Central Park each year. Many pass by the statues, plaques, and benches and wonder who those people were. They read the plaques, but there is more to the stories than just what the plaques state.

I created this historical fiction series so that listeners could learn the compelling life stories of these honorees. Like Alexa or Siri, or a historical re-enactor, the statues recall their contributions to society lest we forget.

In volume one, four high school students converse with and confront AI- and IT-enabled Central Park statues about their past. The students question Balto as to why there is a statue of him, and Togo, the true hero of the Race of Mercy, doesn’t. Robbie Burns and Sir Thomas Moore are asked to explain why, if they were such good writers, did they die penniless. The teenagers listen to Fitz-Greene Halleck lament that he is the least known of the statues in Central Park. Shakespeare must defend the authorship of his plays and poems. Finally, the researchers probe Sojourner Truth about her uneasy relationship with the suffragettes.

In this nine-volume series, a total of 31 statues, five benches, three plaques, two tree markers, two fountains, one stone mosaic, and one obelisk are interviewed by the teenage researchers. Enjoy listening to their stories.