ROOTS & BRANCHES

People have been quoting, misquoting and taking out of context the saying, “There are no second acts in American life,” ever since it was first used by F. Scott Fitzgerald in his essay called “My Lost City” about his beloved New York. But despite the caution contained in those words, I’m about to embark on …

I’d heard that the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, had reopened with much of its physical layout changed, so when I had the chance to safely travel earlier this month, I jumped at the chance to try it out. And before I even had a chance to look at much of it, …

Sure, I’ve written in “Roots & Branches” about Katherine Schober before but the translator, author and educator has renamed her business and continued to create an inviting and vibrant community based on what could be a dry subject—the archaic German cursive script used in old church records. The center point of her community is her …

Sure, it was 4:30 in the afternoon on a holiday weekend. And I was away from home at that. But when a professional colleague comes looking for help about records of the county in which you live .. well, you try to help out. The colleague was Catherine Becker Wiest Desmarais from Burlington, Vermont, and …