Phyllis Mclaughlin News Today

The Reading 275th Citizens' Bike Race & Ride, powered by Penn Entertainment, is scheduled for Aug. 27 from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Fire Tower on Skyline Drive in Reading.

NPR's Scott Simon talks with Luis Alberto Urrea about his new novel, "Good Night, Irene." It's based on his own mother's experiences working for the Red Cross in Europe during World War II.

Luis Alberto Urrea’s latest novel “Good Night, Irene” honors the Clubmobile Corps, popularly known as the Donut Dollies, who supported the morale of soldiers during World War II.

Author Luis Alberto Urrea joins the L.A. Times Book club July 19 to discuss his new novel, 'Good Night, Irene.'

“Good Night, Irene,” a novel by Luis Alberto Urrea, sends two female volunteers to the Western Front.

Luis Alberto Urrea joins the L.A. Times Book Club July 19 to discuss 'Good Night, Irene,' a novel inspired by his mother's WWII service

<p>As part of the Clubmobile service of the Red Cross, Phyllis McLaughlin was an indirect witness to the traumas of the soldiers she served with hospitality, even before the jeep accident that ended her own service after nearly killing her. </p>

In her World War II photographs and those of her friends, my mother is laughing and bright-eyed in every single one. I almost don’t recognize her.