Author In The Family

My grandma, now in her late 80s, was the youngest of several siblings, most of whom I never had the chance to meet.  I've heard the stories and thumbed through the pictures, but as I get older, I find myself wanting to know more.  For instance, I would love to know more about my great aunt, Marie Campbell.

Marie taught in the Appalachian Mountains in the mid-1900s.  Do you remember the TV show or book, Christy?  That was pretty much what her life was like.  Later, she became a professor at Amherst College in Massachusetts.  Upon retirement, she wrote four books, based primarily on Appalachia and Appalachian folk tales.  I was given original copies of these books when I graduated high school, but I never read them.  They always sat on my shelf, special and protected, but I don't know that I had ever even looked in them.

On Sunday, I decided to open them up and look around to decide which one I was going to read first.  These books were bought from the original owners, and were full of all sorts of sweet things, like inscriptions and even enclosed letters to the owners from my aunt.  I'm going to start reading the books, starting with this one, but it's really only making me want to know even more about my family.  Luckily, my two grandmothers are still alive and I am looking to interview them soon.

What about you?  Are any of you into genealogy?  Have someone in your family that you want to know more about?  Share with the class!