In this week's Roundup: dream over Russian window art (stunning!), read the stories of some Missouri adoptees who were able to learn their biological parents' identities thanks to passage of a recent law, check out the world's tallest cemetery, and much more.
I recently took a peek into the family tree of Tim Kaine in a piece that combined a big-picture perspective with a mini-saga of the Kaine branch. During the course of my research, though, I came across other random tidbits of interest, so thought I’d share them clustered by branch of the family tree.
No sooner had Hillary Clinton announced Tim Kaine as her running mate than articles on his roots began to appear – mostly about his inherent Irishness. But what else was there to learn?
When it was announced that Hillary Rodham Clinton would be inducted into the Irish America Hall of Fame in 2015 for her work on the Irish peace process, it was inevitable that I would explore the branches of her family tree, but it wasn’t the first time. Having delved into her roots in years past, I was familiar with the basics, but when I took a deeper dive into the Welsh portion of her heritage, I discovered that it’s rather surprising that Hillary Rodham Clinton exists at all.
Easily one of the most popular and reliable box office performers today, actress, comedian, producer, and now fashion designer Melissa McCarthy has a lot to be proud of. Following a string of hits, she’s now part of the long-anticipated Ghostbusters dream team of Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon, and Kristen Wiig. While they’re all ghostbusting, I thought I’d do a little ghost-searching – that is, for the ancestors who populate McCarthy’s family tree – and here’s what I learned.
This week: Explore a mystery mansion for sale in London, watch a suspense trailer for the New York Public Library (somebody had fun making this and it's fun to watch, too!), TLC announces that Who Do You Think You Are? will return for a ninth season, and much more . . .
Given Vice President Biden's forthcoming trip to Ireland to explore his roots, I thought this would be a good time to re-share an article I'd previously written about his ancestry. Enjoy!
A few years back, I did some research for Judy Collins about her roots and thought it might be interesting for folks to get a peek into that process and the song that it inspired.
After his identity was confirmed through DNA analysis, a WWII pilot's remains were returned home to be laid to rest with full military honors.
Television producers frequently reach out to pick my brains about forthcoming shows, and I generally do my best to help because I have a conspicuous bias: I’d like to see as much genealogy on air as possible. But yesterday I received an inquiry that made me check the calendar to be sure it was 2016.
