America has always been smitten by both high-spirited inventors and yarn-spinning salesmen. Ron Popeil, who died Wednesday at age 86, was both, amplified by the airwaves into millions of homes during his many late-night infomercials. He was a gadget innovator, yes, but a popularizer as well, a man who intuited consumers’ common-sense needs, then found accessible ways to entice them into making purchases.
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