Saturday Serendipity (February 21, 2015)

The following are a few recommendations for inclusion on your reading list this weekend. 

1.  If you have seen the Steven Spielberg film "Schindler's List," then you will recall the Nazi monster Amon Goeth played by actor Ralph Fiennes.  Can you imagine being 38 years old in 2008 and suddenly discovering that the real Amon Goeth, "the Butcher of Plaszow," is your grandfather? The Weekly Genealogist of NEHGS provided a link to the story here. It is a fascinating read.   

2.  UpFront With NGS posted Part 2 of "20 Free Genealogy & Family History Resources" this week. You can get the list and links here.  

3.  Did you know Ancestry.com is about to do a complete make-over of its website? James Tanner at Genealogy's Star blog provides a quick explanation and link to a "sneak preview."  See it here. [By the way, James Tanner's post provided a nice reminder and prompt for a piece I have been meaning to write for some time now, so have a look at my "Dear Ancestry. . . " post here later today!]

4.  Our favorite legal genealogist, Judy Russell, once again makes a simple but important point about copyright and the way it can be and is abused by fellow genealogy enthusiasts.  Read "Copyright and the genealogy lecture" here . . . and remember, all kinds of sins can be avoided by the simple act of ASKING PERMISSION! 

5.  If you are from New England, have remote but deep roots in New England, or are simply an evolved "NewEngland-o-phile," then you might enjoy a blog of which I only recently became aware. Peter Muise of Boston is the author of New England Folklore blog.  Peter's blog has been around since 2008 and has some wonderful stories about New England, its people, and the tales they tell.  Have a look here.   
6.  Now here is an interesting and very useful tip and "how to" this week from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings blog. Randy does all the work for us and walks us through how to create a calendar in Family Tree Maker that will show at a glance the birthdates of all our ancestors or other selected folks from our trees.  You can see the step-by-step instructions with screen shots here.  Thank you Randy!  

7.  And finally (again thanks to NEHGS and The Weekly Genealogist), to put everything in perspective for those of us who live today, but spend a good deal of our time and effort in the past . . . read this piece that ran this week on Public Radio International (PRI), "Why today is the best time to live in human history."  

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Copyright 2015, John D. Tew

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