"2 Outta 3 Ain't Bad!"

My latest discoveries in my paternal lineage have been surprising ones, and in a few short days I managed to connect 3 well known people in my family tree.

My first discovery was not all that great: America's first known serial killer, Dr. H.H. Holmes (Herman Webster Mudgett) turned out to be my 22nd cousin, 4x removed. Holmes was convicted of only one murder, but was suspected of, and admitted to killing many more, including the murders of several children. The story of his "murder castle", a hotel built in time for the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 is well documented and often still appears on TV programs. Not exactly the type of person (and I use that term very loosely) that I would choose to add to my family line, but facts are facts, good or bad.

My second discovery was lot more exciting as it was a lady with whom I am familiar and remember watching her appearances on Good Morning America many years ago: Julia Carolyn McWilliams, better known as Julia Child. Aside from having seen Julia's appearances on TV, which I found amusing, I took an even greater interest in this amazing woman several years ago when I watched the movie Julie and Julia while I was on a trans-Pacific flight. The movie was entertaining, but also provided a much deeper glimpse into the renowned chef and author's life. To add to the fun factor, the starring role of Julie was played by yet another paternal relative of mine, actor Amy Adams. Julia was quite a distant cousin of mine at 35th, once removed, but nonetheless, she was a cousin.

My third and last (thus far) discover this week was of my 23rd cousin, 2x removed, Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen - The King of Cool. One of my first memories of Steve McQueen was in the classic movie Bullit. I couldn't tell you the plot of the movie, but I can still see that famous car chase scene between McQueen and his 'green 68 Mustang GT and the bad guys who were driving a black '68 Charger. Other car chases came before and after the car chase in Bullit, but I doubt that any will ever top the showdown between the Mustang and the Charger.

As Meatloaf famously sang, "Two outta three ain't bad", and if I have to add one serial killer to my family tree while adding two other people that I admired, then I guess he was right!