ROOTS & BRANCHES

Earlier this year I was waxing nostalgic about becoming a bit of a gray eminence in the genealogy world.

And in addition to taking a step back from a few posts to allow some younger folks to fill some posts, I also pride myself at making introductions.

Probably my favorite one was that of Diahan Southard and Katherine Schober, who became like sisters immediately upon introduction at a National Genealogical Society conference a few years ago.

They’re both written books since then. Southard’s Your DNA Guide brand has made a major impact on genetic genealogy education and Schober has rebranded and broadened her German-to-English translation service as Germanology Unlocked. Every time I see them cross-promoting each other it does bring a smile to my face!

Another time—not introducing people but rather a restaurant—was after some board meetings in Salt Lake City in which the others were leaning toward hotel food and nudged (maybe not so gently!) that we instead go to The Roof, the gourmet buffet once atop the Joseph Smith Building with spectacular views and food. I was credited with pulling off “quite an upgrade” by the rest of the group.

But I don’t think I ever created more synergy than when I introduced the empress of “Genealogy Quick Start” to the czar of “Genealogy Tip of the Day.”

The empress is Shamele Jordon, a “Jersey girl” who created the “Genealogy Quick Start” TV program as a way to teach baseline family history concepts through a step-by-step approach.

The czar is Michael John Neill, a retired math professor who has created a large following through blogs and online speaking from the Midwest.

When Neill and I found out in spring 2020 that we would be speaking in the same time slot for the National Genealogical Society conference, our back-and-forth kibbitzing (at one point we talked about each showing up in the other person’s lecture room to confuse the attendees—and probably get us blackballed from ever speaking again!) led to a desire to do a “not your father’s genealogy webinar” when the NGS conference went virtual due to COVID.

Enter Jordon and her technology knowhow. She volunteered to make the show into a new iteration of her “Genealogy Quick Start” program, with her as the host, Neill and I as “regulars” (I like to think of us as Harvey Korman and Tim Conway to Jordon’s Carol Burnett … others say I’m dating myself), and a special guest each week.

What started out as a one-short lark has turned into a biweekly production that will soon begin its third year. Never, never deny that some good things came out of COVID!

You can view episodes of Genealogy Quick Start on YouTube at the URL, https://www.youtube.com/c/GenealogyQuickStart