A few years ago in an interview, Sue Grafton, author of the Kinsey Millhone series often known as the “Alphabet Murders”, replied that she did not plan to continue the series after finishing the alphabet. Oh no!
Why couldn’t Kinsey find her true love at long last and try to give up the PI business, not missing the physical abuse but oh so longing for that Happy Dance that comes after the intellectual, intuition flashes, and sometimes serendipitous experience of the hunt? She was an ace at finding people and connections, often wading through dusty tomes and acres of records at various courthouses and archives. And then analyzing what she had found, using her infamous index cards to untangle the mess and solve the mystery.
Sound familiar? Why couldn’t she be a genealogical PI??
Last week, it occurred to me that – since Sue Grafton would not be using my idea – maybe I should. Using the alphabet would help to structure the presentation of stories and discoveries. It would also help to mix things up rather than dishing up an enormous eye-glazing casserole of each family!
It also allows for topics that had an impact on various families such as the 1871 Chicago Fire and the Iroquois Theater Fire just to name two. Places and the times lived in are important too.
Recently I have broken through two brick walls on Mom’s side of the family so it looks like those families will be the first focus of this blog – my happy dance! Please feel free to offer information, stories, photos, questions, critiques, etc. This is an ongoing exploration to revisit our families.
~ Spring – Summer 2016
A lot has happened since last Spring. There have been a few false starts including unwieldy blog sites, but here we are.
~ Spring 2017