Almost every family has one … a famous or notorious ancestor dangling off a far branch of the family tree &045; an interesting character that the family is supposed to be related to but no one is quite sure exactly how.

Maybe this relative is a famous movie star, recording artist or even a political figure, but almost universally we’ve all wondered at one time or another about being related to someone famous or perhaps even being descended from royalty.

But even if your family legend claims that you are related to someone famous, how on earth would you actually go about proving that you do indeed share this famous bloodline? How exactly do you go about researching the family tree of someone you have never even met?

Genealogist Rhonda McClure has just written a new book designed to answer all these questions and more. &uot;Finding Your Famous (And Infamous) Ancestors&uot; is a delightful volume geared to help you uncover the celebrities, rogues and royals in your family tree.

McClure herself is well qualified to address this subject. As a professional genealogist who has specialized in computerized and celebrity genealogy, her credentials are impressive to say the least. She authors the &uot;Celebrity Roots&uot; column in Biography magazine and has complied celebrity family trees for the A&E Network and The History Channel.

She has authored the award-winning &uot;Idiot’s Guide to Online Genealogy,&uot; &uot;The Official Family Tree Maker&uot; fast and easy series for versions 7 through 10 of the program, &uot;The Official Guide To Family Tree Maker, Version 11&uot; and &uot;The Genealogist’s Computer Companion.&uot;

In this newest volume, she teaches the reader exactly how to establish his/her connection to a celebrity using all the traditional research techniques in conjunction with new advances and resources from the Internet.

Using celebrity case studies &045; including Audrey Hepburn, George Clooney, Goldie Hawn among others &045; McClure teaches the reader to get the most out of genealogical resources, including where to look for information, what to look for when using it and how to take what you find and go to the next step in the research process.

Also addressed is what to do with the unsavory characters you might find in your family’s past…..the dreaded skeleton in the family closet. It is often hard to be sensitive to relatives’ feelings and still be able to find out more about the ancestor that nobody wants to talk about. Knowing how to deal with this problem is important is in all family research.

The book is a fun read that is geared to the beginning researcher as well as those more advanced. It is the first of its kind to address this subject and may be just the thing to turn the reader who is &uot;just curious&uot; into an avid family researcher.

So watch your local bookstores and libraries for this new work or visit http:/www.familytreemagazine.com/specialoffers or Amazon books to order a copy online. Published by Betterway Books, this 240-page paperback retails for $21.99 but can be found on the Internet at special offer prices in the $15 range. What a wonderful idea for those of you who are beginning your Christmas shopping.

DOES ANYONE KNOW …

… Thomas Temple (

Tjtemple@aol.com

) is seeking information concerning PVT. NEEDHAM H. TEMPLES who died 20 Oct 1862 in a Civil War Hospital after a three month illness. He was in the Company E Shubuta Guards of Clarke County, 37th Infantry Regiment of Mississippi. His records did not show any locations. It is believed he died in north Mississippi. His wife, MARY TEMPLES, did not file for a pension. She was last found in a Jones County 1870 Census as Head of House. No graves have been found for either of these people. Does any reader know where they are buried or have other information to share about this family?

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