While Mary Kelley published The Weeping Angel, the books is authored by her deceased father, as it contains his letters and poems, filled with vivid descriptions of day to day life  as a soldier camped on the edge of the battlefield stationed in northern France between 1918-1921.  Told through letters and poems that Kelley writes home to his Kansas City family, one gets a sense of what life was really like for these soldiers.  Enlisting right after graduation from Central High, Hubert claims to play the bugle in order to be accepted and instead, proves to be a talented raconteur and observer. Although he could not play the bugle and never really learned, he became the regimental poet of Company D of the Twelfth Engineers and found his true vocation as a writer.

Mary Kelley edited and researched this special collection of her father’s letters over the past six years.  With the help of Colonel John Laird’s History of the Twelfth Engineers and research at the National WWI Museum, she has annotated the letters to show the actual path of the unit as they repaired and built light gauge railways to carry ordnance and materiel to the front lines in Cambrai, St. Mihiel and other important battlegrounds in France.  Pte. Kelley and the 12th were among the first American troops in Europe and they stayed to prepare for the Occupation for months after the Armistice of November 11, 1918.  He returned to Kansas City to become a reporter for the Kansas City Star and later the editor of American Magazine in New York.

The Weeping Angel (L’Ange Pleurer) is a small statue poised over a tomb in Notre Dame d’Amiens Cathedral, carved by Nicolas Blasset in 1636.  With one hand on an hourglass and the other on a skull, the angel came to symbolize the war to Kelley and the many soldiers who visited it during WW I.

It was OSCAR TIME at The Good Radio and The Good Radio Movie Correspondent, Brent Marchant joined Frankie for his yearly Oscar predictions. Brent and Frankie discuss each movie and place their votes for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Supporting. Last year, Brent  won 5 out of 6 of his predictions.
Brent’s Predictions for Best Picture-Moonlight
Best Actor=Denzel Washington
Best Actress-Emma Stone
Best Supporting Actor-Mahershala Ali, “
Best Director-Damien Chazelle
Best supporting actress- Viola Davis

I will update this MONDAY morning after the Oscar’s to see how we b0th did.

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