I was innocently researching information for today’s blog post when I came upon a headline stating that Catherine Middleton and Jane Austen were indeed cousins according to Ancestry.com. The connection may be faint—6th cousins 11 times removed is what I read—but hey, that’s still family! So I began to wonder if there are any famous writers peeking out from the leaves of my family tree. Wouldn’t that be fun! Needless to say the thought of fun trumped the desire to research, so I decided to play a bit of a game today.
The Author in My Tree
Tell us which famous author you are certain you must be related to and why; include a few of your favorite quotes from your adopted ancestor. Of course, if you are actually related to a famous author now is the time to name drop!
I’ll start. I just know that somewhere back there I must be related to Emerson. Like me he found solace in the natural world; had faith in intuition; and spoke his truth though it went against the grain. He also looked after many people who did a poor job of looking after themselves, a role I can relate to.
My Favorite Emerson Quotes:
"Peace cannot be achieved through violence; it can only be attained through understanding."
"It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude."
"Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better."
"The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions."
Now it's your turn! What famous author is peeking out through your branches (imaginary or otherwise)?
by Robyn Chausse
photo credit: Jane Austen Society of Australia
4 comments:
Oooh, I got one too! Frank Capra, movie director and author of "The Name Above the Title" was my great (x3) uncle. His older sister Josephine (Guiseppa)was my great, great, grandmother.
Hi Christina,
True tree-sitters! How Fun!
It makes me wonder...did the movie-book-music bug bite anyone else in the family or has it slept through the past three generations only to awaken in you?
For me??? Probably someone like Gertrude Jekyll who wrote mainly gardening books and poured out her love and passion through words.
Charles Dickens. My birth certificate reads Charley Dickens. The Dickens was correct, but they made a mistake on my first name, which has since been corrected to Cher'ley. There are some other writers in my family ancestry, but they're not as famous as Charles.
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