Music: Good Night, Mother.

Everyone who listens to John Charles Thomas when he sings over the radio knows him for the resonant "Good Night, Mother," with which he ends all his programs. On such occasions Baritone Thomas is addressing a homey, kindly-faced old lady who lives in the house he bought for her in Towson, Md., tends her garden, mows her own lawn, harks back constantly to the days when her John was a lad singing in the churches where his Methodist father preached.

Federal law prohibits the exchange of person-to-person radio messages in the course of a public broadcast. A Pittsburgh newshawk confronted Baritone Thomas...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!