<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML xmlns:o = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"><HEAD> <META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type> <META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.18928"> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV>Oh boy, that's a minefield, better you than me.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>You might start by correcting some of the stereotypes.  Starting with the 'royalty' one, in all its forms. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Interesting question here for me is the idea of how far back does one feel a 'connection'.  I suspect that those who are asking that one probably don't feel much connection beyond just the generations that contained living persons whom they actually knew.  People who don't have any interest beyond that.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>You might turn that one back on the host and ask how far back she feels a connection (or her writer).  I bet you'll find that question then connects back to the royalty myth (no great sense of connection, but *if* there was a 'royal' connection, then great interest!).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I sometimes find the most rabid clients are those who have sunk their teeth into the myth of some sort of royal connection.  That no amount of evidence will shake them loose from.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>have fun</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Larry</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px" dir=ltr> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=jfdf@shaw.ca href="mailto:jfdf@shaw.ca">Joan Fraser</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=apgpubliclist@apgen.org href="mailto:apgpubliclist@apgen.org">apgpubliclist@apgen.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, June 25, 2010 2:17 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [APG Public List] celebrity connections to royalty or famoushistorical people</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>I have been asked to speak briefly with a radio host on Monday morning and would like to provide a broader opinion than my own on the following topic specifically at what point in going back do these connections lose any real meaning for us or our clients:</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#1f497d>"we want to know how anyone finds connections that old [e.g. to nobility or to royalty -their example is Count Vlad]– we’re so often hearing that some celebrity is related to another or something like that. We’d want to talk about the field of genealogy and how these connections are found. W</FONT><SPAN style="COLOR: #1f497d">hen does family connection lose meaning in your opinion? Just because they shared a relative 400 years ago, does that matter to people you’ve worked with? In your experience can we all find someone famous in our family tree if we look far enough back/ are we all related in some way if you go far enough back?"</SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN style="COLOR: #1f497d"></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN style="COLOR: #1f497d">Any brief thoughts on this topic?</SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN style="COLOR: #1f497d"> <DIV> <P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Monotype Corsiva'; FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt">Joan Fraser, genealogist</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV> <DIV> <P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Monotype Corsiva'; FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt"> </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Monterey BT','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 18pt">Treasured-Legacies</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Monotype Corsiva'; FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt">.com</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV> <DIV> <P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Monotype Corsiva'; FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt"></SPAN> </P></DIV><o:p></o:p></SPAN></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>