The Bath Schoolhouse Bombing of 1927 with author John Smolens
Author John Smolens is an award winning novelist whose historical fiction "Day of Days" tells the story of the tragic and shocking bombing of the Bath, Michigan Schoolhouse in 1927. There were 45 people killed in that bombing and countless children and adults injured.
In the spring 1927, Andrew Kehoe, the treasurer for the school board in Bath, Michigan, spent weeks surreptitiously wiring the public school, as well as his farm, with hundreds of pounds of dynamite. The explosions on May 18, the day before graduation, killed and maimed dozens of children, as well as teachers, administrators, and village residents, including Kehoe’s wife, Nellie. A respected member of the community, the Kehoe himself died when he ignited his truck, loaded with crates of explosives and scrap metal.
In its portrayal of several Bath school children, Day of Days examines how such a trauma scars one’s life long after the dead are laid to rest and the wounded heal, and how an anguished but resilient American village copes with the bombing, which in its time seemed beyond comprehension, and yet now may be considered a harbinger of the future. One survivor, Beatrice Turcott, who decades later lies on her death bed, recalls the spring of 1927, and how this haunting experience has led her to the conviction that one does not survive the present without reconciling hard truths about the past.
John Smolens has published twelve works of fiction, eleven novels and a collection of short stories. His most recent novel is "Day of Days" , published by Michigan State University Press. His novel Wolf’s Mouth was selected as a Library of Michigan Notable Book for 2017. In 2010, he was the recipient of the Michigan Author of the Year Award from the Michigan Library Association.
The intro music titled "Flint, Michigan" was provide courtesy of singer-songwriter Antje Duvekot.
The outro music titled "Flint River Blues" was provided courtesy of singer-songwriter Colton Ort.
