Whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year –Hanukkah, Christmas, or other– the gift of humor is always appreciated. So for those looking to give a little lift to a favorite genealogist in their life, then let me recommend two great books from Laverne Galeener-Moore.
In Collecting Dead Relatives, Laverne has shared a fantastic collection of funny stories related to genealogical research. Stories range from successfully outmaneuvering uncooperative public servants to trying research road trips to test anyone’s sanity. These are the experiences many of us have faced in researching our own families. However, when reading these tales from the perspective of someone’s experience, it is easier to find and share in the humorous side of these events.
In this book “you’ll learn about the latest techniques used by county clerks in repelling genealogists, about projector fatigue, and about acceptable and unacceptable behavior in graveyards. You’ll read about the sins of the D.A.R., research trip survival tactics, sadism in the county courthouse…the banality of workshops and seminars, the proper etiquette in prying information from reluctant relatives, and much, much more! This work is guaranteed to keep you sane and keep you laughing.”
Like her first book, Further Undertakings of a Dead Relative Collector contains of funny stories will have you in stitches. “With a swipe at foreigners, computer freaks, reluctant letter-writers, and certain best-forgotten ancestors—not to mention the hell on earth when the microfilm reader is on the fritz—” Moore takes the reader deep inside the struggles every genealogist faces and finds a way to see the bright side of life; though, she may not have thought these situations funny at the time. The more experience you have as a researcher the more you will appreciate the witty humor found in these stories.
Get both books Collecting Dead Relatives ($9.75) and Further Undertakings of a Dead Relative Collector ($10.78) from Family Roots Publishing Company.
Add another book and take advantage of Family Roots Publishing’s Holiday Shipping Special…FREE Shipping on any Order over $25. Good though Midnight MST 20 December 2012.
Table of Contents — Collecting Dead Realtives
Backword
Committed Researchers
Mercenary Researchers
To Get a Whopping Headache — Try the National Archives
County Courthouses — Burned Down and Otherwise
The Hottest Hangout in Town — Your Library
Browsing in Cemeteries
Enough Genealogical Societies to Choke You
The Research Trip — A Masochistic Journey
You Will Have an Affair with Your Mailman
Dead Relatives Are the Best Kind — They Don’t Come for Visits
Writing the Book the Whole World is Waiting For
Appropriate Words to Fling About
Table of Contents — Further Undertakings
Prolegomena
Catarrh of bile ducts Can Lay You Low
Oh, Granny, Where Can Your Ashes Be?
Scatter! It’s a Computer!
Will the D.O.O.D.O.O. Replace the D.A.R.?
Curses! An Unidentified Photograph!
So Your BODENSCHATZ Came from Rugenwaldermundenbergerfurt?
GAS Attacks Salt Lake City
Duck! It’s a Minié Ball!
How to Make Sure Your Goal is Showing
Sew Those So-and-Sos Into a Quilt
Librarians Runnin’ Wild
Cruising the Ohio 200 Years Later
Mail Monomania
Words to Set You Apart (Probably Far Apart)