I don't quite remember when I took Prof. Kelly's English class, but I believe it was the first semester of my sophomore year in the fall of 1969. I do know that Prof. Kelly was one of the most memorable professors I had at the university. I first read a Theodore Roethke poem in his class, and Roethke remains one of my three favorite poets. Two anthologies of poems that Prof. Kelley assigned are still on my bookshelf. But for some reason, the students in the class were rather quiet, and we really didn't contribute much to the class. So I distinctly remember that Prof. Kelley was so frustrated--or maybe disappointed is a better word--that we didn't respond to Randall Jarrell's poem "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner," especially given all the death and madness that we were living through at the time. Of course I've never forgotten the poem, just as I've never forgotten Professor Kelley.

Bob Burchfield
January 14, 2026