The Wright Brothers

by Fred C. Kelly, Noah Waterman (Narrator)

In this fascinating biography, Fred C. Kelly, a former newspaperman, author, and an old friend of the Wrights, tells the story of the 2 brilliant, dedicated, flight-obsessed bicycle mechanics from Ohio who first realized mankind's age-old dream of conquering the skies. Long considered the definitive Wright Brothers biography (the manuscript was read and approved by Orville Wright), Kelly's work recounts the Wrights' small-town boyhood, their early interest in all things mechanical, the establishment of the Wright Cycle Shop, and the complete behind-the-scenes story of how they designed, built, tested, and flew (December, 1903) the first "Flyer."

Audible Audio

Published December 15, 1999

About the author

Fred C. Kelly studied at the University of Michigan (1900–1902). He began his newspaper career in 1896 as a local correspondent for a small town newspaper and wrote a humor column for The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) for five years. His "Statesmen, Real and Near" column (1910–1918) was the first Washington, D.C. news column to be syndicated. During World War I, Kelly served briefly as special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

After the war Kelly bought and operated a farm in Peninsula, Ohio where he continued to support himself as a free-lance writer. In addition to his journalistic work, he was the official biographer of the Wright brothers, and worked to bring the original 1903 Wright Flyer home to the U.S. from the Science Museum in London, to which Orville Wright lent it during his long feud with the Smithsonian Institution over credit for the first flight.